Bonsai Wire and English Ivy
Well, HHBC Family, once again y'all have shown you know how to work! This past Sunday afternoon a couple dozen of us—church members, scouts and parents, and neighborhood residents—gathered to care for the beautiful bit of creation that makes up our church grounds. We had teams spreading mulch, trimming bushes, pulling weeds, and, what I spent most of my time doing, waging war against the invasive English Ivy slowly choking out most of our trees. The pernicious vines have been slowly creeping up and around the trunks for years until the branches hang heavy and some of the vines themselves are thicker than my arm, requiring hatchets and chainsaws to cut. Left unchecked, our beautiful oaks that took decades to grow will be strangled and killed by the humble vine wrapping around it. As one of you reminded me Sunday afternoon, how similar to sin these vines are that creep and entangle and kill if allowed to remain for enough time. Like the author of Hebrews says in chapter 12, "let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." (NIV)
Yet even without the presence of vines, no tree grows in a vacuum. Its shape and therefore its longevity are often determined by the environment and plant life around it as it tries to find the best path towards the sun. In this journey toward the sun there is a difference between that which entangles and that which supports. Perhaps that is one reason I like bonsai trees. The natural inclination of the tree gets shaped and guided by the particular vision of the grower until something of unique living beauty remains. Unlike the ivy which strangles, bonsai trees are guided and positioned by wires that force the tree to hold a particular shape until the tree keeps that shape on its own. The truth is that we are all being formed and shaped by something. Much of our life is being shaped unintentionally by the people around us, the stories we hear and believe, the social media that seeks to influence us, and the little boxes in our pockets that keep ringing and pinging demanding our attention. Yet the Christian life is not meant to be unintentional. Like any good bonsai tree, God desires a particular shape from our lives and it requires the right wiring to help us hold that shape until it becomes second nature. Practicing the way of Jesus requires our intentional, specific, actionable choices. How are you being formed? What shape is your life taking? Are you covered in vines that are slowly strangling or wires that support you into new growth? Perhaps this week you can spend some time considering the questions below as an audit of your own spiritual formation with Jesus.
Questions to Consider
What habits do you keep in your daily and weekly life? How might they be shaping you?
Who are the most important people in your life? What do those relationships look like?
What stories have shaped the way you view the world? Where did these stories originate?
Am I being intentional about who I am becoming?