Of Seeping Weeds and Better Grass

This is kind of part two of the Grass Chronicles. Last time (Of Lawns and Aphorisms) I discussed how living in one extreme can often lead to another extreme, and how comparisons against other people is not how to rise above in life. I also talked a little bit about the difficulty of keeping a clean lawn in the midst of hayfields. Let's go into that a little more. . .

So, as I was thinking and walking and looking at grass, I thought about my own lawn. At the beginning of the summer, I sprayed most of the weeds and they died off. But evidently I missed some, because now the front yard is covered with annoying and ugly weeds and things. My point is that weeds spread. This blog may be a little shorter than most, because that's just about it. Weeds, when left unattended, spread and overtake your yard, and even the yards next to you. Thus, although it may look good on you for the time being to chill near the "hayfield" lives, and you may get plenty of good-natured attention, you sure as anything had better make sure those hayfields surrounding you don't seep weeds into your life. Standing out among the less-disciplined provides recognition for a while, until the weeds that have taken over their yards start taking over yours.

Now, on to people. There are people who are organized, ambitious, and disciplined; and there are those who are not. If you are striving to be successful, it would probably help if you weren't always having to spray out the weeds of sin and other bad habits that were seeping in from non-ambitious lives around you. However, we are called to lead those weedy lives higher, call them to a place of better grass so to speak. There is a fine line dividing too much and too little time spent with each type of group. We must learn to balance that tightrope, investing in others, but not neglecting to be invested in ourselves.

It is similar with ministry. It is indeed our calling to lead people to Christ, to help them grow deeper. For some that means getting up on a platform and preaching or leading Christ's followers in worship. But we must not neglect ourselves, or else we will not be able to minister to our full capacity. My dad gave me an example of this when I suggested simply forgoing college and going straight to the mission field. He said, "A doctor can reach down to a homeless person on the street, but a homeless person can't reach up to a doctor." Same with grass. A clean cut lawn can hold position and influence with other clean cut lawns, while also influencing lawns which are not kept up. An unkept lawn, however, can only have slight influence on other lawns, without any regard at all to the well kept lawns. Same with lives. God has called us higher so we can call others higher.

Here is what I'm trying to communicate:
1) Reach up to God and respectable people, who will take you higher
2) Reach out to others on your level, to have a mutual relationship in which you help each other climb higher
3) Reach down to underpriveliged, underinformed, or undermotivated people, and give them a hand up

Reach up, reach out, reach down.