The scientific name for yeast used in making bread is Saccharomyces Ceremisiae, which means “sugar-eating fungi.” This fungus loves sugar. As it eats sugar, the fungus produces alcohol and carbon dioxide. The gas cannot escape in the dough and causes the batter to rise.
This process is not visible to the naked eye. The fungus is only one cell and is seen only with a microscope. The result of the process is very visible. Bread dough can grow visibly larger because of the presence and appetite of the fungus.
Jesus taught a very short parable about this process in Matthew 13:33. The Lord could say more in one verse than most poets could say in ten. He said the kingdom of heaven was like leaven that a woman hid in some flour until all of it had risen.
Christ’s kingdom would influence the world. The church that Jesus built grew from humble beginnings in Jerusalem hardly visible to the world until the Roman Empire noticed.
The influence of Christianity was visible in the letters of Pliny the Younger to Emperor Trajan. Pliny, governor of Bithynia, told the emperor how he dealt with Christians by making them either recant their religion or suffer punishment.
But, there was another more visible and more palpable aspect of the leaven of Christianity. The love, good conduct, and fine reputations of its members had an influence in the world (James 3:13; 1 Peter 2:12). Christianity results in good conduct, love, care, and concern for others.
Want to experience this kind of good influence? Find the Lord’s church and see it for yourself.