The good grapes

Steve Mason is spending this summer working in a French vineyard, and he's already defended his Christian views and explained the different strands of Christianity that aren't always evident to non-Americans. Surrounded by a common image from scripture, Steve has thought about how Christianity is a "a well-aged wine that is ready to be drunk."

Although not naturally accustomed to early mornings, for the last two weeks I have been rising around 5.30 AM to tend grape vines near Castillon, France, in the Bordeaux region. My sister and I are traveling together this summer, and for part of the time are working on organic farms through an organization called Willing Workers On Organic Farms (www.wwoof.org). We wwoofers live with the family that owns Chateau Brandeau, a vineyard that produces about 60,000 bottles of wine a year. In exchange for working in the vines, cooking and other chores, the family supplies all the wwoofers with food, board and a copious supply of Chateau Brandeau's very own vintages. Living with the King family has been spectacular — they are wonderfully welcoming people, taking us into heir home as their own family, much like Abraham welcoming the three strangers with the best he has to offer. Living in France with this French-via-England-via-California family has been a wonderful opportunity. It has given me a new understanding of how big of a job we Christians have.

When Sarah and I first arrived in Castillon, a punchline was made against all organized religion and we took the opportunity to mention that not all Christians are raving-mad lunatics, and that we ourselves were practicing Christians. After the family and our fellow wwoofers, who were all agnostic, atheist or non-practicing Christians, got over the initial shock, they were mostly amused and perplexed that two seemingly "normal" people would count themselves among Christians — especially the current American incarnation of Christianity. Living less than seven kilometers away from the final battle of the Hundred Year's War — one of the most horrific and unholy "Holy Wars" — and only about a kilometer away from a creek that separated unoccupied France from the part that was under control of a "Christian" named Adolf Hitler little more than 50 years ago, the King famil, and many like them have a different understanding of Christianity than most people who will be gathering in Fort Worth later this month for the General Assembly of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).

Most days while tending to the upkeep of the vines, minds tend to marinate on thoughts, and often many of us would have those pseudo-intellectual conversations that drift towards religion and politics. During these discussions, Christianity would be blamed for violence, hate, prejudice, intolerance and generally any problem plaguing American society. Also, the non-Americans honestly believed that brand of Christianity displayed by our president is the same set of ideals taught in our churches — and schools!

Needless to say, Sarah and I had to correct some misconceptions before even dealing with the issues under discussion. And it was difficult but important to accept the shortcomings of some human examples of monotheists that make us all disappointed, and acknowledge that we all belong to the same dysfunctional family that has descended from Abraham.

But after the faulty information was cleared away and acknowledgment of past, and some current, Christian failings to act in a Christ-like manner, we could show that the core of our beliefs was good and had merit. Our beliefs are needed, especially in today's world.

Being around so many grapes and so much wine, my mind still drifted to the Bible, even if we weren't debating or even discussing the topic. Many of Jesus' parables and letters by Paul used grapes and vines and fruits and wines as metaphors, but I found myself constantly returning to Matthew 7 where Jesus is speaking that no good tree can bear bad fruits. As I am in the fields scooping to clear the roots of the grape vines free of poisonous, artificial outgrowths and lifting the vines so that the grapes can get enough direct sunlight without leaves getting in the way of their growth, I think of the Church. I know that Christianity is a good tree, but it seems that far too often the secular world has only gotten the sour grapes of our harvest. I think we are in a time desperate for some pruning on our good tree so that we can distinguish the true, good roots from the lecherous, false roots. I believe that the Good News of Jesus Christ is a well-aged wine that is ready to be drunk, and it seems as though we have a whole generation of people who are ready to be those wine skins bursting forth with a new message of love, hope and community.

Without the guidance of the Higher Education Leadership Ministries of the Christian Church(Disciples of Christ), I do not think I would have been prepared to defend my faith with people I care about as much as the Kings and my fellow wwoofers. And I know that without HELM, I would not have taken the step to enter theological training, which I will be starting at Vanderbilt Divinity School in August. Through HELM, I learned from a variety of leaders how to promote effective change in the world and became empowered by their examples of prayerful leadership. Becoming involved with HELM and the larger church has taught me a lesson similar to a lesson I learned working in the vines: Work can be slow and draining, but with a full team the care that can be put into each individual grape can yield a spectacular wine, that all can enjoy.