The Grass Died
This article is one of those that is a bit “different” but please bear with me.
I love to mow, but I don’t like to weed eat. So, I’ve learned to use a vegetation killer with a pump-up sprayer attached to the back of my lawn tractor. It’s convenient for me: I just ride along and if weeds or grass are growing where I can’t easily mow, they get sprayed with a generous drenching of vegetation killer. I try to be careful where I spray because of the effect this mixture would have on trees and especially my wife’s flowers. But for walkways, areas around riprap, and the steep portions of ditches leading to culverts and such, spraying is effective and safe!
Before this recent draught, I enjoyed mowing and of course, found a few more spots of vegetation to irradicate. While mowing, the wand of my sprayer usually stays beneath my left leg and on the running board of the tractor. However, this time, and without notice to me, the wand trailed behind the tractor. That was fine until I had to back up and get to an area of the yard that I hadn’t mowed. I heard a “crunching” noise so pulled ahead and shut the tractor down, turned my head, and saw the remains of the sprayer wand scattered to the side of where I’d mowed! Yes, I’d backed over the wand and even severed the hose! Being pressurized, you can imagine how much mixture I lost on the ground! Now, there is a two or three-foot diameter “bald spot” with a three-foot-long line of dead grass – a reminder that I need to be more careful while mowing and operating my sprayer!
No, it’s not an earth-shattering mistake. In fact, that spot doesn’t look any more dead than other places in the yard where the draught has deadened the lawn. But the difference is that when rain does return to nurture the ground, that spot and line will remain dead! I don’t know how long that mistake will be evident; it may be a long time greening again!
The thought occurred to me, that souls are remarkably similar to this mishap. Brethren grow but at different “rates” of maturation. Some require a slow but steady diet of truth and righteousness; much like “milk” compared to “meat” (cf. Hebrews 5:12 – 13). Others require a constant diet of deep and fervent study to sustain their growth. And then there are those areas of unwanted growth that must be eliminated or their ugliness and choking out of the good growth among the brethren will take over. Unfortunately, “accidents happen” and sometimes the good growth of the local work is destroyed, and slow to return if it ever returns!
“What kind of accident?” you may ask. Let me suggest you read the words of the song ANGRY WORDS (number 112 – Sacred Selections). Most often, this is the cause of death among otherwise viable growth in a congregation. Also, carefully read and study Matthew 7:12 and ask yourself, “Would I want to be treated the way I’m treating ----?” Combine your answer with a serious contemplation of Ephesians 4:26 and then ask yourself, “Do I need to be that angry at --- or should I just get over it?” Yes, we tend to talk too much, and often because we don’t think enough! That’s why James told us, “Let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath.” Our words can be like vegetation killer and all we have to do is spill them at the wrong time at the wrong place and we’ve killed needed, beautiful growth among our brethren!
CareLESSness can be avoided by replacing it with careFULness! Companies often have training sessions where employees practice safety drills. Christians need to practice “safety drills” every day! We need to be keenly aware of our surroundings and be attentive to ourselves as well as our brethren. Too often brethren are quickly critical of others while ignoring their own faults. This is why Jesus carefully explained our required conduct in Matthew 7: 1 – 5. We can’t remove tiny specks of wrong in others while giant beams of wrong exist in our own lives! The Lord said we need to first care for ourselves, and THEN we can see clearly to help others. Otherwise, we leave spots and streaks of dead growth where good growth needs to be!
Vegetation killer is used to kill UNwanted weeds and such. It works well when applied to those things you no longer want to grow. Sadly, even when you kill the unwanted things in the yard unless you uproot that dead plant, you’ll see the dead stem or the brown and lifeless grass remaining where it used to thrive. No, it doesn’t get any larger, and the evidence is that the plant is completely and certainly dead. But its ugliness remains until completely removed. That’s another similarity in some churches of Christ. When problems (not members – PROBLEMS) are irradicated, you don’t leave them for discussion at a later time: you get rid of them and never mention them again! Too often additional growth is snuffed out by “respraying” where the unwanted once existed, and instead of removing the problem, it is “rehashed” over and over again, and soon, another unwanted problem arises and good growth is stifled in the process!
Yes, I learned a valuable lesson with my sprayer and my lawn tractor. I’ve replaced the destroyed wand and hose, and the sprayer with its contents are returned to their proper purpose. But I’m also much more careful to keep the wand TURNED OFF until I need to use it. And I’ve learned to keep it more securely within my control instead of assuming it will remain under my leg and on the running board. Likewise, I pray brethren will learn to guard against allowing attitudes, words, and deeds (or the lack thereof) to ruin the good and productive growth of the Lord’s church! May I lovingly suggest two things to protect righteous growth? First, BE SPIRITUALLY MINDED in all you say and do. Second, THINK BEFORE YOU SAY IT OR DO IT. Doing these two things will help your soul and subsequently, the souls with whom you worship. We need to grow, and we need to grow righteously in the grace and knowledge of Jesus (2 Peter 3:18). Let’s enhance the growth and never contribute to the death of that growth. Let’s keep the Lord’s church pure and beautiful!