I mowed my lawn for the first time this year on Thursday of last week. By Friday, the dandelions had already sprouted up and covered most of the lawn again, making it look an awful lot like it did on Thursday. So, in frustration I passed over the dandelions again with the mower in the middle of the day. I’ll admit that I wasn’t that surprised when, by Saturday, the lawn was already overgrown with little yellow flowers again. I don’t think it’s inaccurate to say that I could go out with the lawn mower daily and have the same result for the next 5 months. The problem isn’t the little flowers and puffballs that show up on my lawn. Really, the problem is the taproot that grows underneath the pesky weeds on my lawn. A dandelion taproot can go as deep as 15 feet into the ground, though most only grow about 12 to 18 inches down. My mower can’t do a thing to touch the real problem with my lawn. I often watch folks around me deal with their life problems in a similar manner. They struggle with bad habits that never seem to go away and wind up ruining their relationships and happiness. Arguing, selfishness, over-indulgence in food or alcohol, and all sorts of things that result in misery and lack of harmony in their lives. The solution that is most often employed is the lawnmower solution. They bring out the mower and attack the problem by controlling their habits or trying to argue less or simply severing contentious relationship altogether. The problem with this solution is that it deals with the surface symptoms. Beneath the surface is a taproot that is causing the problems they see in their day to day existence. Jesus described this sort of solution in a conversation with the pharisees, the religious elite of his day, by calling them a “whitewashed tomb.” Outside they were pristine, but inside they were dead. He also accused them of washing the outside of a dish but leaving the inside filthy. The idea behind both of of these insults is that they were doing their best to correct their bad behaviors while leaving their hearts corrupt. This is a little like acting right toward the people around you, but hating them or looking at them with contempt. The “taproot” problem is that all people carry corruption in their hearts. For some folks, it’s more visible and obvious because they give the sin in their lives free reign or have allowed it to take control of them altogether. With others, it’s less obvious because they are active with the lawnmower, chopping down bad habits. The proper solution, however, is to deal with the problem beneath the surface. For my lawn, this would involve spraying poison or digging out the roots. In the case of our hearts, the solution is to be remade by God’s working in our lives. This is accomplished through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection on our behalf. It begins when we choose to follow him and learn his ways. We don’t earn new life or God’s forgiveness. Both are gifts we receive that result in our life changing from the inside out.
