S5 E24 - Strange Growing Grass

As my grass started growing back in after a fresh cut, I noticed a distinct pattern to how entire strips of grass were longer than the sections next to it. As I looked at my mower, I discovered that one tire was going flat, and therefore it was unbalanced. It left my yard looking like a terrible haircut. 

Imbalance in our lives can lead to all kinds of problems - at home, with our children, our jobs, our diets. But perhaps most importantly, we need balance in how we teach the whole counsel of God. We cannot neglect faith to teach grace, nor can we neglect grace in teaching faith. Jesus reveals the Father - full of grace & truth. If we want to know God, we must understand and teach both these things. 

#SetYourMindAbovePodcast

Transcript

What if I told you that God could be seen in the most ordinary things every day? 

What if I told you that every day, ordinary events could teach us extraordinary eternal truths? Would you believe me? 

 Welcome back to season 5 of the Set Your Mind Above Podcast! My name is BJ Sipe, and I am a Christian, a preacher, a husband, and a father. And I’m excited to share a few moments together with you learning some important lessons from the simplest things. Let’s grow together! 

One of my very favorite chores to do being a homeowner is to mow the yard. Now, this wasn’t always the case, mind you. For the first 5 summers of our living here, I had strictly a push mower. Not even one of those self-propelled ones, but just a very standard, good old fashion, make you sweat until you can’t see straight push mower. Boy did that give you a workout on an extra hot Kentucky day! But this past summer, I’ve been living in luxury as far as far as mowing goes, and it’s never felt so good. My buddy Brad Lamb hooked me up with an incredible 46-inch cut Cub Cadet riding mower – I never knew mowing could be so fun! It’s like driving a go-cart around your yard, complete with a cupholder, and getting the job done in a third of the time! I absolutely love this thing. I’ve probably mowed my yard at least 5-6 times with it since I got it, and it gives a great, even cut every time. That was until this last week. I cut my grass on Monday, and even as I cut it, something just seemed a little…off. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it, but it seemed to be making weird lines in the yard. I was on a bit of a time crunch, so I just wrapped up the job as quickly as possible and didn’t think much more of it. That was until yesterday. 

We got quite a bit of rain Wednesday night, and of course when that happens the grass will jump up nearly overnight it seems. You could have just mowed the yard, but within a half of a week it’s nearly time to mow again after a real good heavy rain. I had gone off to work for the day, and as I pulled back into our driveway I noticed the most unusual thing – our grass was growing, but in strips. There are entire sections, long strips of grass in our front and back yard, that are much longer than the grass right beside it. It wasn’t random, it was definitely a pattern, and given the eye test it was exactly the same distance between these patches and the width of my riding lawn mower. I opened up the garage with the intent to take a look at the mower and see what might have gone wrong. Funny enough, I didn’t even have to look at it for longer than a second to know what had happened right away. My right back tire was substantially lower than the back left tire, so much so that the entire mower was tilting towards the right. The mower was unbalanced, and therefore I had given my entire yard an uneven cut. What the right side of the mower was cutting down to 2 ½ inches, the left side was cutting down only to 2 ¾ or 3 inches. So, if you happened to wonder what I might be up to on my day off this upcoming Monday, there’s a good chance you’ll find me riding along and fixing some strange growing grass on hopefully a better-balanced mower.  

Having the proper balance is a very important principle in so many areas of our lives. Honestly, it does not come easily either. It takes a tremendous amount of work to ensure we have the right balance with a great many things we are tasked with. It is important to have the right balance between discipline and nurture with our children as parents. It is important to have the right balance with work and rest as an employee or an employer. It is important to have the right balance in our diets, exercise, and sleep. In fact, in any of these areas if we find ourselves out of balance, it can lead to neglect or all kinds of other issues that can build up over time. While we might not ever find the absolute “perfect balance” to these things as children of God, it is important that we diligently work to keep the proper equilibrium so that we and those in our immediate care grow as God intended. 

One area in particular that this is extraordinarily important is how we approach the teaching of Scripture and Biblical principles with the proper balance as well. To bring this out, I want us to examine something in particular that Paul would say to the Ephesian elders as is recorded in Acts 20:27. He would declare, “For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.” As is the case with many things, often when it comes to theology people can operate in extremes, can’t they? Much like a pendulum, people can find themselves standing on a soap box and staying there – but only on one side of an issue. It’s the preacher who insists that it’s vital to preach on the Old Testament, but in doing so neglects ever teaching out of the New as well. He needs balance. It’s the brother or sister who always wants to discuss modesty for women, but in doing so neglects ever talking about what modesty means for men as well. They need balance. It’s the social media account that always warns about the dangers of homosexuality, but in doing so neglects to ever warn about other forms of sexual immorality that perhaps are much more commonplace among God’s people. There is a need for balance. There is a need to follow in Paul’s footsteps – we need to declare to whole counsel of God, and not become so fixated on a topic or doctrine that we end up neglecting and leaving other necessary things out. 

Perhaps the area that I see this imbalance the most among the brotherhood, and as a matter of fact unfortunately in my own preaching and teaching in times past, is in failing to find balance between grace and faith. The pendulum is in full swing with these issues – where some brethren seem to be concerned solely with preaching on the grace of God, but in doing so can neglect to preach on the necessity of obedient faith and submission to the law of Christ. Yet on the other hand, to combat this, brethren elsewhere have gone the other direction – emphasizing with great strictness and firmness the Scriptures clear teachings on obedience and repentance, but in doing so often neglect to speak about the patience, forgiveness, and lovingkindness of God’s grace in the lives of broken people. So, which is it? Which should we focus on? Which should we declare? 

I believe the words of John 1:14 will give us the answer. “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We observed his glory, the glory as the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” When Jesus came in the flesh, he revealed the very nature and glory of God through his person and his ministry. To see Jesus is to see the Father. Understanding this, we need to see what John declared concerning Christ and his subsequent glory – that he was full of both grace and truth. Jesus did not neglect to speak truth while revealing and declaring the graceful, loving, and patient nature of the Father. Jesus did not neglect to speak about grace while insisting on submission, obedience, repentance, and self-denial for his disciples. Jesus was full of both grace & truth, and he presented both in perfect balance so that we might come to know him & know the Father. You cannot truly come to know God without understanding his grace. Equally, you cannot truly come to know God without understanding his truth. 

My friends, we paint an imperfect and imbalanced picture of God when we neglect to speak on both grace & truth, both love & faith, both patience & obedience, both discipline & mercy. Having imbalance in our teaching can lead to many problems with our own faith & view of God, as well as those whom we teach also. Personally, I must confess that I am so fortunate and so grateful to have such incredible Shepherds here in Danville that continue to help me to see and correct potential imbalances in my own preaching. It can, and does, happen to all of us. I very much doubt I will ever find the “perfect balance” in my preaching on these things, but I pray that if continue to work diligently and in humility on it, that I will find a more appropriate equilibrium as time goes on. This is my prayer for you too. Don’t neglect important and necessary things that God has revealed of himself or of his expectations for his people. Preach the whole counsel of God. And if in any ways you find yourself out of balance, there’s always time for one more pass around the yard to bring things back to the way they ought to be. 

This has been the Set Your Mind Above Podcast, season 5 episode 24 – and I’m so thankful that we had this time to grow together! A new episode is dropped every Friday, so be sure to tune in next week.  Also, if you’re able to, go ahead and like and subscribe to the podcast, give us a good rating or most importantly share it with someone else – it would help to reach others that I never could alone.  And more than anything, always remember the following: know that I love you, that God loves you, and may we all each and every day set our minds above.