What is more annoying than weeds?  Until last weekend I had a whole backyard full of them.  But there is something staggering about them – their everywhere! They grow where there is little water (or shallow amounts), where the sun is rigid, and often where grass won’t grow.  I’m using the word weed loosely as some are a nuisance, an unwanted plant in human-made settings or natural areas.  But the strength of weeds is they are native (sometimes nonnative) plants that grow and reproduce aggressively. 

During this recession I’ve seen a few car dealerships close along our main interstate.  One in particular the entire lot is covered with hefty weeds.  At first I responded by think they don’t belong there!  A weed is a plant in an undesired place.  Except as of late I’ve began to compare weeds to the church.

The message of the Kingdom of God, one in the opinion of the leaders of Jesus’ day, took root in undesired places. In Luke 13:18-19 Jesus actually compared the Kingdom of God to a tiny mustard seed. Some think he was talking about the Kingdom of God starting very small, but over time it would grow to grand proportions.  However, the parable, as Jesus told it, carried a different message.  The mustard was so aggressive, it was considered to be unclean. One mustard plant could corrupt an entire garden. There were many restrictions on when and where mustard could be planted, if at all. Simply put, there is a good chance that the man planting the seed was doing something illegal. The mustard plant, both now and then, was often considered to be nothing more than a pesky weed.

Jesus’ message actually got him killed because it showed up where people didn’t expect it, nor wished it.  Like weeds the message of Jesus’ was unwanted for a number of reasons: it’s unattractive to the self righteous, crowded out or restricted religion, and survived in inadequate conditions but with adequate resources (the Father helped).  Some weeds are hazardous, but so is the message of the Kingdom of God.  Weeds cause irritation as does the message of the Cross (1 Cor 1.18) and normally spreads naturally (2 Thess 3:1-3).

So before I share my theory I want you to know I realize that weeds are not favored in scripture (Genesis 3:17-19).  What I am convinced the phrase, Kingdom of God, conveys the center of Jesus’ life and message.  But just like gardening or lawn care, participation is voluntary; the Kingdom of God, like weeds, is present, whether or not people recognize and accept it.

The main thrust of the kingdom is the spiritual transformation of individuals who make up the body of Christ. This ministry of Jesus continues through the Church.  However, the Kingdom of God in not the Church, yet the two have an inseparable relationship. The true Kingdom of God includes all who have believed, or will believe, in Christ as Savior from the Church’s inception until the end.

But I digress, what I believe is the Church should be as simple as the common weed.  The “weed” is not a weed when growing where it belongs or is wanted.  Jesus said he came to the sick.  He said that sin begins death.  If you’re dead, you’re not reproducing. 

Professor Richard C. Lewontin of Harvard University defines weeds as plants that create environmental conditions in which it cannot reproduce.  He takes the example of pine trees that crowd out sunlight such that its own offspring cannot grow.  So imagine the church as the weed thriving in environments that normally suffocate itself to spiritual death. 

I believe the church shares similar adaptations as weeds, allowing them to proliferate in disturbed environments whose soil or natural vegetation has been damaged.  Weeds evolve, adapt, and grow in human-disturbed areas.  Should not the local church do the same in the areas of our city and community?  Going where sinful man have disturbed life, adapting and growing in order to bring true life? 

See the church, like a weed, have a nature that often give them an advantage of quickly growing and reproducing.  This is why I’m convinced of the house church method, because it allows the church to be sustainable for many years or have short lifespans with multiple generations in the same area; however, contently spreading to where life is absent.

 ”Weed seeds are often collected and transported with crops after harvesting of grains, and so many weed species have moved out of their natural geographic locations and have spread around the world with humans.”  Okay, Bible thumpers don’t remind me that Jesus often spoke of separating the weeds from the harvest, I get it.  What I’m getting at is that weeds, like the church, move out of their areas and spread around the world through humans.

 Weeds thrive where human conversion has occurred.  Church thrives where human conversion (change, transformation, movement, exchange) will occur.  Humans are the vector (force or influence) of transport and the producer of disturbed environments, so weeds have an ideal association with humans (so does the church).