Matthew 16: The Yeast Effect

The Kingdom of Heaven is like the yeast a woman used in making bread. Even though she put only a little yeast in three measures of flour, it permeated every part of the dough.

Matthew 13:33 (NLT)

Watch and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

Matthew 16:6 (ESV)

In bread, yeast causes a rising effect. Therein, a tiny, single-cell fungus kneads deeply into warm water and flour, creating natural fermentation. Then the dough (soon to be bread) starts to rise!

Here's the thing: fungi can be good or bad, producing helpful or harmful effects.

  • If the risen loaf represents people,

  • If the yeast represents their leadership,

  • Then, for better or worse, followers rise!

At worst, angry mobs rise up in hatred. At best, godly people rise up in love. The bad yeast? The teaching of Pharisees. The good Yeast? The Holy Spirit of God!

Actors, models, and talent for Christ:

Regarding your rise in entertainment, be encouraged by Alexander MacLaren, an 1800s preacher from Scotland, who “got” God's plan CENTURIES ago:

'We have to learn from the metaphor in the parable. The dough is not kept on one shelf and the leaven on another; the bit of leaven is plunged into the heart of the mass, and then the woman kneads the whole up in her pan, and so the influence is spread. We Christians are not doing our duty, nor are we using our capacities, unless we fling ourselves frankly and energetically into all the currents of the national life, commercial, political, municipal, intellectual, and make our influence felt in them all. The 'salt of the earth' is to be rubbed into the meat in order to keep it from putrefaction; the leaven is to be kneaded up into the dough in order to raise it. Christian people are to remember that they are here, not for the purpose of isolating themselves, but in order that they may touch life at all points...' (MacLaren's Exposition on The Parable of the Leaven).*

Leaving roofed and walled church isolation to propel yourself in culture's hot spot (inarguably, modern media) was predestined by THE Rock Star Himself.

Matthew 16: The Yeast Effect (Part 8)

* What is the meaning of the Parable of the Leaven? | GotQuestions.org

NOTE: God is my Ghostwriter. If what I write is good, it’s from God! We’re ALL called to be actors (action stars) for Jesus. We’re ALL called to models of Jesus, and we ALL have gifts, talents, and callings from God–  to multiply them in the world for His glory.

P.S. NO DEVOTION, PREACHER, or SERMON… can begin to replace personal time in the Bible. I wholeheartedly and clear-headedly recommend READING THE BIBLE DAILY.

WARNING: Don’t focus on favorite verses, because out of context, they’re often misinterpreted. I plead with you to READ AT LEAST 1 BIBLE CHAPTER DAILY. How long does it take? An average of 5 to 10 minutes!

Carey Arban