Group Project Write-Up

Group Project Write Up

Group Portion

List the members of your group and what your interest was (e.g., art, STEM, doctrinal).

Our interest was STEM. Our group included Dallin Johnson, Matthew Jenkins, Nathan Ludlow, Brendon Bown, and Josh Coombs.
Describe the project your group chose and how you carried it out.

We choose to grow mustard seeds and research agriculture and its appearance in the New Testament. We decided to take what we learned from the experience of growing mustard seeds using both modern and ancient techniques and then work to obtain a deeper understanding of how Christ's parables can be understood and applied based on the agriculture and history of mustard. We spent time during the semester growing the seeds with both modern and ancient techniques and researching the historicity and agriculture of mustard seeds to be able to have a presentation ready to present.
Evaluate your effectiveness in carrying out the project on a scale from 1-10: did you do what you had planned to do and consistently keep up with it?

On a scale of 1-10 we determined that our effectiveness is about an 8. We did what we planned to do and accomplished it in the timeframe and learned more about the New Testament and its impact in our lives. There was still room for improvement though and we could have spent more time working together to learn rather than independently and we are sure there is more that we could have learned. But we did accomplish what we wanted.
What kind of time commitment did your project entail?

Most of the mustard plants took 2 weeks to grow, but the larger plants took 2 months to grow. Along with the growth of the mustard seeds, we had to spend time researching the hebraic references and culture about the mustard seed, as well as the agricultural customs of the time. We also spent time preparing and practicing for the presentation and final. Overall it averages out to a commitment of about 2 hours a week in work.
Learning Objectives: Explain what specific aspect(s) of the course content you mastered through this project. What did the project help you understand better about the Gospels and/or Jesus Christ?

The specific aspects of the course content that we mastered was the idea of being able to understand and apply parables by using exegesis to understand what it meant to those people, then at that time, and then thinking about how it can apply to us, today in our time based on knowing what it meant to those people them. The project helped us understand just how important it is to understand the historical culture of the people at the time where we are reading in the scriptures because otherwise we may miss the true meaning of the scriptures. We learned that not only does the mustard seed growing have references to the growth of the church but the parables also have references to the custom of mixtures and it shows that not only did Christ say the church would grow, but that it would grow by having a mixture of people joining together. People of different lands, cultures, and backgrounds, Jews and Gentiles, saints and sinners and people from all over the world would have to come together to grow the church of God.
Please upload your project through photos, a recording, a video, or the actual paper (for example, a piece of art, a written composition of music, poetry, a report, etc.).

Individual Response

What worked well or didn’t work so well in your group project? Do you feel that your group project was equal effort by all group members or did you have some issues with getting everyone’s participation?

I felt like there was equal participation by everyone for the most part. I was a little disappointed in our project. When I first started, I was hoping that I would be able to do some sort of coding for this project, but we weren't able to find a way to apply it, so it ended up just turning into another research project for me. I still learned some pretty cool things, though.

I also was a little disappointed with our end result. It was very well put-together for having a limit of 2 pages. However, I feel like a lot of the work that was done was lost as we condensed the information. I spent three or four hours researching mixtures, but all that got into the paper were two paragraphs.

Anyway, I learned a lot from the project. It wasn't my favorite, but then again, not every project can turn out perfectly. I still learned a lot of lessons. And I feel like we did a good job with the constraints that we had.
How much of your project was collaborative with your group or done alone by yourself?

A lot of the research itself was done alone, with weekly check-ins for reports on progress. It was closer to the end when we began to put everything together that we worked more collaboratively, putting together and editing the slideshow and the report.
Share some things you learned from fellow group members through your collaboration together.

I learned a lot about the mustard plant that I didn't know before. I was in a group with Dallin, who knows a lot about biology and botany. He had a lot of really cool insights, such as how plants don't just receive light, they grow towards it. This helped me to realize that we can't just be passively learning about God's word. We have to be actively trying to develop ourselves and "grow" in our application of the word of God. We have to "grow" towards Him, not just receive his word.
Write about how the project was meaningful for you and what you learned through the project.

I learned a lot about mixtures. In the law of Moses, specifically in Leviticus 19:19, and again in Deuteronomy 22:9, the commandment is given to "not sow thy field with mingled seed". If one does so, "the fruit of thy seed which thou has sown, and the fruit of thy vineyard, [will be] defiled". Thus, one cannot, for example, grow vegetables and wheat in the same field.

There are, however, some plants that can be grown together. The most well-known example of this is wheat and tares. Tares, also known as "the bearded darnel", are a species of rye-grass whose seeds contain a strong poison. It bears a strong resemblance to wheat until the ear appears, at which point it is differentiable.

This example was a well-known example in the time of Christ for teaching about the nature of mixtures, and it was likely that Christ was making reference in his parable of the wheat and the tares. Often, this parable is interpreted in the context of good and evil. God allows good and bad people to live together and interact. Sometimes the good suffer because of the bad. However, in the end, all of the good will enter into the kingdom of heaven while all of the evil will be burned. Thus everyone shall receive their recompense.

While this may be a correct interpretation of the parable, those that listened to the parable may have seen it from a different perspective based on their knowledge of mixtures as taught by the Rabbis. Christ spoke of the kingdom of heaven in terms of a field. This field was sown with wheat, which was a good seed, and which the owner wanted. Then, the enemy came and sowed the field with tares, a potentially poisonous seed.

At this point, some may have wanted to completely abandon the field, while others expressed their desire to immediately remove the tares from the field, possibly in order to avoid having a mixture of plants growing together and making the field impure.

The wise owner, however, recognized that in the process of uprooting the tares, some of the wheat would be uprooted as well. He couldn't afford that to happen. He also recognizes the two crops as mixtures that can grow together. So instead he allows for the mixture to grow together until harvest time. It is at that moment that he has the two plants separated and dealt with accordingly.

In this parable, God evidently is the owner of the field. He has sown seeds of love and charity in his church. Satan has also sown seeds of contention and malice. Because of this, some may want to completely abandon the church. Others, like the Pharisees of Jesus' time, may want to eliminate any sign of "impurity" at an early stage in order to avoid problems later. However, God, in his infinite wisdom, has chosen to let all grow together, recognizing that it will do more good than harm.

The Pharisees were often judgemental of those that were not a member of the house of Israel. They looked down upon the Samaritan, for example, as demonstrated during Christ's interaction with the woman at the well (John 4:9). If they were given charge over God's "field", they would have immediately shunned anyone that they thought was a "tare", someone that would not obtain a place in the kingdom of God. This meant that they would refuse to include anyone that was not directly of the house of Israel. They wanted to avoid any kind of "mixture". God, on the other hand, was willing to allow a mixture. He was willing to let both the Jews and the Gentiles into the covenant, as evidenced by the ministry of the apostles after Christ's death. Some of the Gentiles would end up being "wheat", while some of the Jews would turn out to be "tares". But that would not be evident until after they had shown their fruits. Thus, as a part of this parable, Christ was showing the importance of welcoming everyone into the kingdom of God. He showed that those of his church should not shun anyone. Otherwise, they might uproot a stalk of wheat because they thought it was a tare.

In other words, God has permitted that there be a mixture in His church. It is only after they show their fruits that they shall be judged. And that judgment only comes from God or from those appointed by him. Only they have the revelation to know when the fruits are ripe.

I also realized from my Old Testament class that there are some mixtures that God doesn't allow. He doesn't allow the mixture of the Israelites and the Canaanites, for example. He knows that that combination will result in Israel turning towards idolatry. And they do, because of their association with the Canaanites. God ultimately knows what mixtures will bring forth good fruit, and what mixtures will lead to a "poor harvest".
Is there some aspect of this project that you could see yourself applying to your personal life?

In this project, I've learned a lot about judging others. On one hand, God has commanded us to not judge others. However, he has also said that we can judge others with a righteous judgment. These seem to be in conflict with each other. But in terms of mixtures, what I've learned is that the judgment can't come from me. I can't look at someone with prejudice, or judge someone based on their outward appearances. I should be constantly searching out Heavenly Father in prayer, asking Him to help me to understand those with whom I interact. And I need to be consulting the things that He has already said, both in the scriptures and in modern day revelation. Relying on Him and His spirit is evidently the best way to achieve the most optimal results, both for myself, and for others.