The Truth The Whole Truth And Nothing But The Truth
There is a great deal of religion in this world, and there are multitudes of man-made idols being worshiped but there is one Father and one Son and one Spirit.
There are centuries old practices, superstitions, philosophies and wisdoms that have served as the foundations for many religious organizations yet in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. Before any man had been created so as to create for himself an idol of worship, God’s glory could be seen throughout all His creation. And yet throughout man-kinds short history there has been an endless stream of examples of people fashioning for themselves objects of worship to suit their own needs. That stream of delusion runs deep and has not been dammed up even today in-spite of all the Christian churches throughout the land. In fact that stream trickles right on into their sanctuaries as well.
For 39+ years I’ve worked as a landscape designer-horticulturalist. Every year I field the same questions from people regarding good gardening practices and solutions to the troublesome issues they face as they attempt to cultivate some healthy growth from the soil. Every year I hear multitudes of superstitions, misconceptions and down-right delusions regarding best planting practices. I truly struggle with wanting to just shake these people and shout out loud, “you haven’t got a clue, why don’t you listen to me!!!” “I know you think you watered it properly and gave it the proper care, but frankly the evidence in the plant itself tells a different story!” “Where do you get these crazy ideas?!”
After years of beating my head against the wall trying to cope with this insanity (defined as continually doing the same thing over and over again hoping for a different result) I’ve found some peace of mind (not much but some). I've learned that people fashion in their own minds, solutions and answers and idols and so on, that meet their preconceived notions and give them the responses they were hoping for. And that they really aren’t interested at all in hearing otherwise. I see it in their eyes; I see it in their faces as I try my best to instruct them in what we (the professionals) know to be established gardening truth. I see that glazed look come over their faces and their posture shifts as they are obviously no longer listening to me but instead forming in their minds their own version of the truth. I’m rubbing up against their gardening religion; I’m calling into question everything they’ve always believed to be true, and it isn’t going well at all. At the end of a long day of sharing my experiences with these crazy people I often come home and unload my pent-up frustrations at this phenomenon and my loving wife takes it all in waiting for her chance to unload her day on me.
It’s really the fault of our materialistic culture.
What do I mean by that?
Well, it’s like this; in our society the retail marketplace truly impacts every aspect of our lives. We buy and sell everything (not to mention tax everything as well). And I mean everything is marketed, even our worship. Worst of all is the competition. And even when we’ve found that we’ve defeated our competition we’ll create a competitive network between ourselves within the same company (or denomination). I’ll give you an example from my industry. Fertilizer mixes, potting soil mixes, grass seed mixes, pesticide formulas, a million lies being packaged and re-packaged in order to be the newest thing on the market.
The people have no real understanding of the ingredients or why they are important, and knowing is never encouraged, just look on the surface at the bold printed key words and all the flashy colors, that’s all they want from the consumer, an apparently that's all the consumer wants. A type of packaging is created for every type of plant or situation, and yet the reality of this whole thing is that the differences in formula are largely unimportant or won’t actually resolve any of your typical issues. People snap this junk up because they want a magic bullet answer to their struggles. It’s marketing, it’s retail, and unfortunately modern religion is no different. The ground, the soil, the root of the religious truth is hidden away on the back of the label in small print because the honest truth doesn’t sell anymore. Frankly the consumer wants to be lied too, or maybe I should say, they expect the lie and so they assume you must be misleading them. This is the discount retail world we live in, and Christ’s communities of faith for some time now have been trying to label themselves in some new manner that will increase their sales in the religious marketplace.
What they haven’t realized is what I’ve learned over the many years in the retail marketplace; they haven’t realized that people will believe whatever they desire to believe regardless how effectively you teach them otherwise. Their idols (their particular beliefs) will trump your teaching every time except for one thing, when what you teach is actually rooted in the One true God. No flashy well worded tagline is ever going to grasp their hearts unto eternity, their loyalty is here today and gone tomorrow; only the true vine can give that life-giving salvation and it doesn’t come at a discount; but here we are in a post-modern age that encourages every version of truth in order to not offend someone with the truth of the truth.
How did this happen?
Why has religion declined so quickly in the last few generations?
Simple answer, because the truth isn’t in it. The multicultural truth is not rooted in the Word and so naturally it is withering on the vine of its own creation. There is no eternal life in it, it’s just an idol, and it’s just a block of wood built up by desires, prepackaged with soothing words, unrecognizable to the One who harvests the fruits of righteousness.
Like the retail garden marketplace, it looks very attractive, and you pick it up and your hope rises for successful growth. You take it home, you cultivate it into your garden, and when things don’t work out like you thought they would your gardening desires grow cold. Maybe for years your garden was the talk of the neighborhood, everything looked so beautiful, but then someone grew too old to work at it or moved away and what was once a lush paradise has become a tangled mess of weeds and brambles. People still talk about how wonderful it was to see all the beauty there every spring and summer, and what a shame it is that it has become what it is today. The truth of the matter is that the beauty was being sustained artificially; it was man-made and couldn’t thrive on its own spirit. The truth of the matter is that what I do (as a horticulturalist) is artificial. I mimic nature in my designs, but nature, God’s planning, is eternal; my designs are only as good as the homeowner who is willing to maintain them. That principle is the same for religion that is not rooted in the Word of God.
The Word of God teaches often about true religion, about true discipleship and especially in horticultural terms...
Jesus said, "Every tree that wasn't planted by my Father in heaven will be pulled up by its roots. When a blind man leads a blind man, they both end up in the ditch." (Matthew 15:13, 14)
They have not thought about these things; they don’t understand. They have never thought to themselves, “I burned half of the wood in the fire and used the hot coals to bake my bread. I cooked and ate my meat. And I used the wood that was left to make this hateful thing. I am worshiping a block of wood!” (Isaiah 44:19)
The whole truth in scriptural horticulture:
Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. (Luke 6:44) A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. (Matthew 7:18) A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but perversion in it crushes the spirit. (Proverbs 15:4) A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump; a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree. (Proverbs 11:28) You do not support the root, the root supports you. (Romans 11:18) If the roots of a tree are holy, then the tree’s branches are holy too. (Romans 11:16) Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. (Proverbs 13:12) If a tree is cut down, there is hope that it will grow again it will send out new branches. (Job 14:7) He will be strong, like a tree planted near water that sends its roots by a stream. It is not afraid when the days are hot; its leaves are always green. It does not worry in a year when no rain comes; it always produces fruit. (Jeremiah 17:8) The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and whoever captures souls is wise. (Proverbs 11:30) “I am the real vine, and my Father is the gardener. He breaks off every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it will be clean and bear more fruit. You have been made clean already by the teaching I have given you. Remain united to me, and I will remain united to you. A branch cannot bear fruit by itself; it can do so only if it remains in the vine. In the same way you cannot bear fruit unless you remain in me. (John 15:1-3)