As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ (Colossians 2:6-8).
Ask anyone around where our apartment is, where my wife or I work, or even our church: I love plants. Each spring, I enjoy the thrill of re-potting the houseplants before bringing them outside for the season. I enjoy picking out new plants for the window boxes and pots that I keep in front of our apartment. In the early spring and in the last few weeks of fall, I even give away cuttings to friends and neighbors. There are a few things that this hobby has taught me that not only apply to plant care, but also about life and my walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.
Before I give any plants away, the cuttings must be prepared. They must be trimmed, potted, take root, and have new growth before I give them to anyone. Nothing would hurt my reputation more than to give someone a small plant than to have that plant die a few days after I gave it to them. Right now, we have a few cuttings that we are preparing to give away – but the sure-sign they are well rooted is new growth. I believe that this concept of being “well rooted and growing” is very similar to Paul’s rooted and built up in him instructions he wrote for the church at Colossus and Christians everywhere.
As the cuttings take root they begin to sprout new growth. Depending on the type of plant, this can be new leaves, new stems, or even blooms – each is an indication that the cutting has taken root in the soil and is now, in the words of Paul, building up – becoming bigger and stronger than what it was when it was originally planted. As Christians, we are supposed to do the same thing – we are supposed to allow our faith to take root and grow. Just as a cutting needs sunlight, potting soil, dirt, and a container to grow in, Christians need to read and study their Bible (II Timothy 2:15), attend church services (Hebrews 10:25), prayer for ourselves, our families, and friends (Philippians 4:6, James 5:15-16), and to learn from elder Christians (Titus 4:2-10). Too many Christians, once they have accepted Jesus as their savior, think that their commitment to their Lord and Savior does not extend beyond that. This is why there are many Christians that are weak in their spiritual walk; instead of growing in their faith, they return to living like they did before they accepted Jesus Christ as their savior.
WhileI was attending graduate school at Southern Illinois University, I had a neighbor in graduate housing that claimed to be a Christian. In several conversations we had discussing the role of faith, religion, and academic study, he told me that he had come to the realization that there was no way that most of the Bible was accurate. He said that from a scholarly point of view, the Judeo-Christian view of marriage, homosexuality, origins of life, and stories of Noah’s ark were all tools designed to control the minds and fears of crowds. He further stated that he believed in what he referred to as “liberation Christianity” where there were no absolutes and all that mattered was not your relationship with God but how you treated your fellow man. This thinking is what the apostle Paul warned about in his letter to the church at Colossus Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ (Colossians 2:8). Unfortunately, this man had not known enough of the basics of the teachings of Christ to withstand the false teaching prevalent in the academic world.
Right now in the windowsill of our family’s kitchen, I have two glasses that contains cuttings from plants. My daughter, who just had her second birthday, loves for me to lift her up so she can look at the plants and the cuttings. This morning, she noticed the roots that are beginning to appear on the stems of the cuttings of Swedish Ivy, exclaiming “whoa, that?” and then repeating “woots!” after I told her what they were. As long as I remember this morning’s lesson, of the importance of teaching her about the things of God now while she is young, when she does make the decision to trust in Jesus Christ as her savior, she will not only have a strong foundation to build upon, but will have the ability to look back at the simple lessons taught through our shared enjoyment of caring for houseplants.
