Galatians 5: Weeds and the Tale of Two Gardens

My wife tells me that our life is the tale of two gardens. In each situation and with every choice, the question is which garden will respond most vigorously. One of these is full of desires out of control. The other is full of the desires under the Spirit of God's control. Or as Paul puts it, one shows itself through "sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like." (Gal. 5:19b-21a) In the other garden, we have "love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control" (Gal. 5:22b-23a) Each is the natural product of one part of our nature when restraints are removed: our original life without God and our revitalized life with God.

So what is the difference? Jesus taught that there are things that choke out the healthy garden: thorns (or weeds), which are "...the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful." (Mark 4:19) So, what can we learn from weeds:

1. Weeds are a plant out of place. My wife says this often. Many weeds are actually desirable plants: quick growing, easy to maintain and beautiful foliage and flowers. But put that plant in the wrong place, it can be invasive, pervasive and destructive. That is true with our desires: many are the good gifts from God's promoted to an unhealthy position of prominence in our lives. When they are over-important, they are toxic, causing us to use or abuse others. 
2. Weeds are best controlled by encouraging healthy plants. In the area around my home, star thistle is an annoying, prickly, spindly plant that penetrates gloves, grows easily and is resistant to most types of typical herbicides. According to the pamphlet produced by the local horticulture experts, the best way to control star thistle is to replace it with desirable plants. We cannot just kill a bad habit--we must replace it with a good habit. I find that my toxic thoughts are tenacious. It is remarkable how long I want to hold on to them. That is why Paul encouraged "whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things." Not just accidentally drift over to these things, but intentionally think about them-planting the furrows of your mind with the healthy, beneficial thoughts.
3. Weeds sprout more quickly than healthy plants. That's one of the reasons they are weeds. Tear out your garden down to bare dirt and don't water, prepare the soil or fertilize. Which plants show up first? Nice, healthy fruits, flowers and vegetables? No! Weeds do. Our self-desires is often the first to respond, while the Spirit-nurtured desires sprouts more gradually. Like in any garden, we must watch out so that they are not the "first responders" That's why John had to remind his friends, "Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked so hard to achieve. Be diligent so that you receive your full reward." (2 John 1:8)

The good news for Jesus' followers is the promise of the life-giving presence of the Spirit. The natural, expected result of the Spirit's renewed life in us is the good fruit. Many of my prayers ask for just that. Jesus said, "A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit." (Matt. 7:17) Spirit, let your flourishing produce it's good fruit in me and reduce the weeds to ash.

Titus 2:10: Serving the Next

My job provides an environment that helps others thrive. We make software-software that other engineers customize to make their computer motherboards work. People use those computers to a million different things. It isn't fancy--if we're successful, you don't even know that our software exists. It just works. Software is like this--it isn't a glory job. I've often compared it to solving crossword puzzles--mentally stimulating but not terribly important in the grand scheme of things (see here).

I like to think that I write beautiful code. Elegant, even. Not just me: there is a book called Beautiful Code, but the audience for that beauty is limited. Much like one painter admiring the technique of another--brush strokes, color palette, use of materials. Or one pianist marveling at the fingering of a difficult passage of Chopin. Or a craftsman appreciating the joins on a piece of fine furniture. God is genius. There is nothing I invent or discover in software that will surprise him. Instead, he delights in my seeking out of the beauty he placed in creation--even in software--before the foundations of the world.

The best art highlights truth and multiplies impact. The art is not the truth itself. Rather it is a sort of truth wrapper, by which truth is emphasized and delivered. Church architecture can lift the gaze heavenward, teach the core stories of the faith, carry the voice of the teacher and singer and encourage community. Well-designed cars convey speed or stability or prestige while enabling speedy or comfortable travel.

Likewise, the best software highlights truth and multiplies impact. Consider the average auditorium: the air is processed by software, the sound is processed by software, the visuals are provided by software. You don't (and should not) marvel at the quality of the picture reproduction, the comfort level of the room's temperature and humidity or the fidelity of the audio (unless you are the production engineer). Rather, these are environmental wrappers for the message being delivered by the speaker giving the speech.

Sometimes it is hard to see the beauty because there is no direct line of sight between what you create and what is eventually created by someone else. It's hard to see the Ferrari when you build the fuel filter. It's hard to see the supercomputer when all you write (as I do) code on a chip that takes less than a square centimeter, holds less than 1 megabyte (1000th of a gigabyte) and costs less than 25 cents. But there is a different type of beauty that God has shown me: not just the beauty of the finished product, but the beauty of serving the next.

Serving the next is saying: "How can what I make better serve the next person who uses it?" and "How can what I do better serve the next person who experiences it?" I don't know many of the engineers who use my code. But I do know that I can serve them by making my code easier to use, more robust and simpler to use. They may never notice what I did any more than you noticed how clean the bathroom was in the last hotel room you stayed in. But it is still beautiful. It is still praising God. I am creating an environment where in some little way, another person can thrive.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. - Colossians 3:23-24

We must be careful because we can twist this out of mixed motives. One way this gets distorted is watching outcomes or calculating return on investment. That is, we often improve what we do so that people will pay us more money or look on us more favorably or judge whether the effort is worth it. As Jesus said, "And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that." (Luke 6:33)

In creating beauty through serving we are reaping the real benefit and creating the real beauty: the inner life transformed by God "just as the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and give his life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:28)

"But...I need that outcome." Like a salary. Or sleep. Sure. We depend on others who, in turn, serve us--whether it is our company, our customers, our families or our friends. But our paychecks come from God and he has called for lives "so that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive" (Titus 2:10b)