Issue 1211 – Beautiful Nuisance – August 2, 2023
The common dandelion is beautiful and valuable in many ways but an invasive nuisance.
It is loved by little children to pick as gifts for their moms (and dads). Winemakers love it. Some love the versatility of the flower in the kitchen. Green lawn lovers curse it, and farmers dread its invasive nature.
Not a native to the Americas, the dandelion was introduced by early settlers. It was a prized part of their pot and herb gardens. They loved its hardiness, simple beauty and versatility in the kitchen (all parts of the plant are edible).
Love the dandelion or hate it; you have to credit its tenacity. Billions of dollars and countless hours have been spent to eradicate it, and still, it thrives.
Many plants and animals have been introduced where they don’t belong, and created huge problems. Here in the Lower Mainland, we have the Himalayan Blackberry. It is both hardy and fiercely invasive. I am half convinced that it is trying to take over the world.
The cute and friendly English (or House) sparrow was brought over from the British Isles. It is so aggressive and prolific that it has displaced many native species, some to near extinction.
Sometimes, it isn’t new species but new technology. Shortly after the turn of the 20th century, irrigation was introduced to farmers around the Aral Sea in Uzbekistan. Cotton flourished, and farmers grew wealthy.
Due to the nature of the soil in that area, and the high volume of irrigation, the great sea is almost gone. Drawing out more water than the sea could replace and leaving just the mineral salts had reduced what once was the world’s fourth-largest inland body of water by more than three-quarters.
None of these were ill-intentioned, and each, to some degree, provided benefits. Yet, in the long run, all prove more destructive than valuable.
The same thing can happen in the church. Minor changes to the understanding of the Word come in, brought by well-meaning people, and disaster can creep in with it. The liberal churches of the late 19th and early 20th centuries decided to concentrate on the social aspects of the gospel and ignore the salvific components. They “loved” their neighbours straight to hell. Those churches thrived for a while but have been declining for decades. After all, why bother going if the church doesn’t offer anything more than any social agency?
The whole issue of sexuality and the wide range of gender alphabet provides another example. Does the Bible condemn homosexuality as sin? Of course, it does, along with many other sins. Does that mean we should throw open the doors to celebrate that sin? Of course not. We can still love those people, but we must also be honest about what the Bible teaches. It is a tricky balancing act, to be sure, but that doesn’t mean we rewrite God’s truth.
It’s easy to “soften” the gospel by not dealing with sin. That desire guts the gospel because there is no salvation without recognizing sin and grabbing hold of Christ by faith alone as the remedy.
It’s not a new problem. The early church was already fighting corruption of the truth.
He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. Titus 1:9
But as for you, teach what accords with sound doctrine. Titus 2:2
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23
Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Ephesians 4:11-14
Let us be vigilant and guard against poison entering in the guise of freedom or making the gospel more accessible. Not everything new is helpful.
May we be discerning and hold fast to the truth.
Be Blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)
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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture is from the English Standard Version (ESV).
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