Are You Growing Grass or Killing Weeds?

We spend too much time worrying about the weeds and not enough time sowing good seed. Good lawn care has much in common with good Christian "life care."

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 Andersons 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 (Anderson, A Church for the 21st Century [Minneapolis: Bethany House, 1992], 125-26).

The Andersons had to ask themselves what would be their primary focus - growing grass or killing weeds? Like the householder from this week's Gospel parable, the Andersons decided to concentrate on the positive - on growth - instead of pouring their time, energy and resources into...