Some say that the outward appearance of the church is not important. What matters is what God is doing on the inside. A thought came to me this morning regarding this concept, and I received another lesson from the lawn.

My walk behind mower was not running properly and my lawn needed to be cared for and cut. A friend came by with a riding mower to cut my lawn for me. Upon completion of the task, he mentioned that it was the nicest lawn he’d ever cut, maybe the nicest he’d seen in the state (okay, I do know it is not the nicest in the state) and that he knew that a lot of work and care had to go into it.

I do put a lot of care into my lawn. I fertilize on a fairly regular basis, I add new grass seed to help keep the lawn thick, I spray weed killer to eliminate threats to my lawn, I am careful how much I cut at one time, I trim the edges by sidewalks and I water it when there has not been much rain or is extremely hot. Even being careful as to when I water the lawn. There is a lot of care that goes into the lawn.

Then I noticed a comparison of my lawn to one where it is only cut, maintained so it does not grow to high and wild, as is the case with many of my neighbors.

Here is a short parable from the lawn (much more could be added/stated):

The typical lawn, full of clover and miscellaneous green vegetation, is cared for only to keep them under control. In essence saying that we don’t care what you do, as long as you abide by our standards and don’t get too carried away and make us look bad that’s okay (i.e an overgrown lawn makes a property look bad). You can look “good” by being green and we’ll ignore the weeds (sin) that permeates you. There is no feeding, no nurture, just wild growth that needs to be dealt with harshly (cutting off too much of the grass at one time). Many just walk by with no comment and no desire to learn more because they can see that there is not much care given, yet some my come because they can come as they are and never change to be like Jesus.

A well manicured lawn is one that says we care about you. We want you to grow to your fullest potential and we want to nurture you and feed you along the way. We want to lovingly show you how to grow closer to God and as you do, those things that tempt you (weeds) will be over powered by your desire to follow God and be like Jesus. Others will be drawn to Jesus as they see His beauty in you and seek out what makes you different.

So what does the lawn say about your church?

One thing to note is that there are those who whitewash the outside to make it look like God is living on the inside when He is no where to be found. We must always be diligent in being able to discern the spirits and to do this, we must know God, the Truth and what His Word says. Be not deceived.