Thoughts from here and there…Lawncare Christians?
Who doesn’t desire a beautiful lawn? Lawn care is a time-consuming task that may lead to less than optimum results.
“Minneapolis pastor Leith Anderson tells of calling ChemLawn to take care of his suburban weed-infested lawn, only to have them reject his lawn as a client because it was so bad. One member of his church volunteered to totally remove his old lawn and start a new one, an offer he was almost ready to accept when a former farmer gave him some advice: ‘Don’t worry so much about getting rid of the weeds. Just grow the grass, and the grass will take care of the weeds.’
“The Anderson’s took his prescription and did all they could to grow ‘the good stuff.’ After a couple of years, the lawn looked just as good as everyone else’s
“The Anderson’s had to ask themselves what would be their primary focus – growing grass or killing weeds? Like the householder from the Gospel parable, the Anderson’s decided to concentrate on the positive – on growth – instead of pouring their time, energy and resources into killing off weeds.”
The Gospel parable is the story told by Jesus comparing the kingdom of heaven to someone who sowed good seed in his field. It goes like this:
“The kingdom of heaven may be compared to someone who sowed good seed in his field; but while everybody was asleep, an enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and then went away. So when the plants came up and bore grain, then the weeds appeared as well. And the slaves of the householder came and said to him, ‘Master, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where, then, did these weeds come from?’ He answered, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The slaves said to him, ‘Then do you want us to go and gather them?’ But he replied, ‘No; for in gathering the weeds you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn,'” (Matthew 13:24-30, NRSVA).
In lawn care you don’t call Chemlawn, you sow good seed. Eventually you will have a beautiful lawn. Does the same principle hold true for our Christian life? If you sow positive thoughts, will the negative ones be diminished? If you sow good deeds will the bad ones eventually be overcome.
The answers are a resounding, “Yes!” It takes time and effort, but it is worth it, isn’t it?