FIVE FARMERS BOUGHT a big sack of seed and agreed to plant their respective fields with the seed that came from that one bag…

The seed was supposed to have been pure and unmixed.

After some weeks had passed, the farmers met together over breakfast and reported their yield.

The first man was said, “Fellas, the seed that I took from that bag produced some of the finest sweet corn I have ever seen.”

Somewhat chagrined, the second farmer said, “That’s odd, because the seed I took out of that bag produced yellow squash.”

The, the third spoke, “This is weird. The seed I took from the bag yielded yellow bell peppers.”

The fourth farmer chimed in, “My seed yielded yellow onions.”

Finally, the fifth man reported, “The seed that I took from that bag produced little, yellow tomatoes.”

THOUGHT: We have the same predicament in the religious world today. Different men claim to be reading from the same word of God. They plant “seed” into the fertile heart-soil of men, but it is obvious that DIFFERENT seed is being sown, because DIFFERENT crops (e.g., Christians, Lutherans, Episcopalians, Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, etc.) are springing up! Seed produces after its own kind (Genesis 1:11-12; cf., Galatians 6:7). Corn seed doesn’t produce squash, bell peppers, onions, and tomatoes.

Roy Lanier once observed, “The seed of the kingdom (Luke 8:11) will produce the kingdom; it will not produce anything different from the kingdom… It has never been known to produce anything other than the kingdom of God, the church of the Lord. The Word of God preached in this community always produced exactly what it produced in another community when preached there. But we have several hundred different religious denominations in the world today, different from each other in name, doctrine, and practice.

Why are all of these different bodies in existence? They have been produced by the sowing of seed, the preaching of religious doctrines. Just as sure as there are bodies differing from each other, seeds differing from each other have been sown. If the same kind of seed had been sown in every community, the same results would have been produced… So the gospel preached in Jerusalem which produced the kingdom of God, the church of Christ, will not when preached in America produce a hundred different denominations. The fact that the many denominations are in existence is positive proof that something different from the Gospel, the Word of God, has been preached.” Mike Benson

“Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment.” 1 Corinthians 1:10; cf. 3:1-4