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Tending the Garden of Our Souls |
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Written by Rich Nathan
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Congregational Letter - January 2008
By Rich Nathan
Tending the Garden of Our Souls
Many of us begin the Christian life with great hope and expectation. We realize that we can’t do life well on our own. Independence from God never works. Trying to control the world by ourselves only results in out-of-control lives. Living apart from God’s commandments never produces freedom. Instead, a bitter crop of bondage, desperation, and depression results from doing life according to our own rules.
So, we turn to Christ for salvation. But after a period of weeks or months, many of us feel stuck. Real change is much harder to experience than most of us realize. Some of us may think, “Maybe I need to be born again, again. Perhaps I need to go forward again at church, or accept Christ again.” But being repeatedly born again doesn’t work for most people. Why don’t we change?
The Bible speaks often about the possibility of real change. We are not simply promised better coping mechanisms while we live stuck lives. Rather, the Bible speaks to us about the possibility of radical transformation. For example, we read in Eph 5:8-9, For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and in Col 1:21-22, Once you were alienated from God and were enemies in your minds because of your evil behavior. But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—,
Being transformed is typically not an instantaneous experience. Rarely will one prayer session, or fresh insight, or sermon produce permanent or total change. Instead, change is normally a process. In the Bible, spiritual growth is often likened to the growth of a plant or a tree. Thus, Jesus says in Mt 13:23, But the seed falling on good soil refers to people who hear the word and understand it. They produce a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.
Growing a plant typically requires (among other things) following the Nursery’s directions, being planted in the right soil, and pulling weeds. Let’s apply each of these elements to our own spiritual lives.
1. Follow the Nursery’s Directions - When you buy a plant, the nursery will typically instruct you regarding planting: in a shady area, or in the sun; the depth of the hole you ought to dig; the kind of soil and fertilizer you ought to use, etc. God, who is the author of our lives, also gives us a detailed set of instructions regarding how we can grow. These instructions are found in the Bible. I am concerned that an increasing number of Christians are biblically illiterate. Many don’t know how to find answers for their real-life struggles in scripture. Many have never learned to connect God’s Word to the issues in their lives. And many have no discipline of reading, study, or memorization. To grow and really change, consider employing the following practices this next year:
•Reading - Make a plan to read the Bible every day this next year. An easy way to do this is to buy a “one-year Bible” which is designed with a program to read through the Bible in twelve months. Many people find that their lives change simply by daily encounters with God through reading the Bible.
•Study - Bible study involves your digging into a particular text or book (a gospel or letter or Old Testament book), or subject (such as marriage, or prayer, or parenting) in a detailed way. An easy way to do Bible study is to pick up a Bible Study Guide in our bookstore and answer its questions and do its exercises.
•Memorization – Memorizing scripture enables you to do spiritual battle much more effectively. For example, if you struggle with gossip, you could memorize Proverbs 11:13, Gossips betray a confidence, but the trustworthy keep a secret, or Proverbs 16:28, The perverse stir up dissension, and gossips separate close friends. If you are selfish with your possessions, you could memorize James 2:14-17, What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if people claim to have faith but have no deeds? Can such faith save them? Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. Or you could memorize 1 John 3:17-18, If any one of you has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in you? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. Jesus battled the devil using scripture that he had memorized (Matthew 4.1-11). Consider memorizing key verses of scripture this next year!
2. Being Planted in the Right Soil – No plant can grow if it is simply place on top of an asphalt driveway or in a bucket of gravel. Plants need the right soil. And we Christians, if we are to grow, must be planted in the rich soil of deep relationships with other Christians. The typical way that God communicates his grace, his love, his correction, and his support to his children is through other people. The fact is, almost no Christian can grow or change without deep connection with other Christians. And if you are struggling with an addiction, or a bad habit, or a compulsive behavior, you absolutely need a support network of other Christians to get unstuck. One counselor said, “Hardly anyone completely recovers from an addiction without connection to a support system. Some stop their addictive or compulsive behaviors, but their relational patterns do not change, and most times they relapse, if they do not do group work.” The simple fact is – we need each other! This year find a coed small group, a men’s group, a women’s group, or a recovery or support group and get plugged in!
3. Pulling up the Weeds – Weeds will choke the life of a healthy plant. And sin will destroy our spiritual lives as well as our families and our relationships. The Bible pulls no punches in describing sin in all of its deadly seriousness. Sin is always destructive! We cannot make excuses for our sin or shift the blame for our personal responsibility. We must look God squarely in the eye and confess the internal issues of our moving away dependence on him, isolation from God and other Christians, and idolatry that causes us to sin. The warmth of God’s acceptance and forgiveness can only be experienced when we pull up the weeds in our lives.
This year cultivate the life giving fear of God in your life. God sees us and hears us and knows us. We cannot cut across the grain of God’s will without picking up splinters. And this year, cultivate a fear of sin’s destructive power in your life. Let’s weed the gardens of our souls as a church community. |
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