Humongous Fungus
“…Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. For indeed Christ, our Passover, was sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.” [1.Corinthians 5:6-8]
Living beneath the Strawberry Mountain Wilderness in eastern Oregon, researchers have discovered the largest living organism on Earth. A single fungus living three feet underground is estimated to cover over 2,200 acres. The small mushrooms visible above ground are only the tip of the iceberg. Officially known as Armillaria ostoyae, or the honey mushroom, the fungus is 3.5 miles across and takes up space equivalent to 1,665 football fields. Based on its speed of growth, experts estimate that this “Methuselah mushroom” is over 2,400 years old, but it could be much older.
Scientists discovered the fungus when they noticed large groves of trees dying in that region of the forest. When foresters cut into an infected tree they would find spreading white tentacles, called rhizomorphs. These filaments draw moisture and nutrients from the trees’ roots to feed the fungus. The honey mushroom can eventually sap enough water and carbohydrates from the roots to kill the trees. Researchers collected samples of the fungus from a widespread area and grew them together on petri dishes. Instead of forming barrier lines, the samples simply grew together. In addition, the researchers analyzed the DNA of the samples, establishing that they were all from the same massive organism. This makes the honey mushroom one humongous fungus! Experts say that at this point there is no way to get rid of the mushroom – it is just too big. Now consider this monster mushroom started from a single spore too small to see without a microscope!
The Bible teaches that immorality is a lot like this humongous fungus. Paul told the Corinthian church to root out the immoral influences in their church because “a little leaven leavens the whole lump” (1.Corinthians 5:6). A little sin in the life works like yeast in bread or like the spores of a mushroom – it spreads. The best way to deal with sin is to root it out before it becomes entrenched. As we yield our hearts to the Holy Spirit, He will convict us of sin, root it out of our lives, and exchange it for righteousness.
