crab·grass or crab grass (krab'gras') n. Any of certain grasses of the genus Digitaria, especially D. sanguinalis or D. ischaemum, widely naturalized in North America.
It's insidious. Malignant. Deceptive. And downright annoying.
Each summer, I have more than enough opportunities to consider the Nature and Ways of Crabgrass. Maybe you have too - or maybe you're wondering if I've been sniffing too much Weed-B-Gon. But I've decided that God created crabgrass just to teach me about sin. I'm sorry that the rest of you have to suffer this blight just so I can learn a lesson.
Apparently I am not learning fast enough. One weekend recently, I endured about an hour of such meditation on a 90° afternoon. It started off as such a simple "honey-do" project: I was just trying to mow the grass, but the crabgrass caught my eye. Being more compulsive than I want to write about to a bunch of strangers, I had to deal with it. So I headed for the tool shed, got my little v-shaped weeding tool, and went to work.
It's an enigma: young crabgrass is a rich emerald green, with a full blade. It looks so...attractive. But looks can be deceptive. I recently saw a large lawn that was overrun with the stuff, and it's hardly gorgeous once it gets established. Like sin when it gets its talons imbedded in our hearts, crabgrass gets clumpy...overwhelming...suffocating. In a mature state, it starts to look more like the cancer it really is than normal turf.
I've found that crabgrass is difficult to distinguish from the preferred fescue when it's young, and mixed in with other grasses. I can only be certain by looking at the base of the stalk, where it is the same color as red cabbage.
Control? I've tried chemicals. But after countless hours and trips to Home Depot trying to spray the stuff to death, I think the only way to fully eradicate it is to fetch my weeding tool and dig it out by the roots.
Towards A Theology of Crabgrass
So that's what I have been learning, bent over in my back yard. Crabgrass is like sin. The simile has good support from Scripture. Here are a few parallels:
Crabgrass looks like "good" grass. Actions produced from pure motives can look just like behavior that is rooted in sin. For example: When I'm correcting one of my kids, am I angry at some genuine rebellion in my child's behavior, or am I impatient and irritated, so that his behavior is revealing a deeper issue in my life? I confess, sometimes I see way too much "red cabbage" in my reaction to my children...or my wife. I don't like to see it. I rationalize it. But it's there. I want to get better at asking the Lord to help me see below the surface.
Tear it out by the roots. The right response to sin is not denial or behavior modification - it's repentance. And repentance relentlessly attacks the roots. In Matthew 3:7-10, John the Baptist told some wicked religious leaders, "bring forth fruit in keeping with repentance...And the axe is already laid at the root of the trees..." Study this for yourself, but I think John is telling us that true repentance recognizes the "crabgrass" and hates it so bad that it can't rest until the deeper source - the underlying motivation - is dealt with. Meditate on these other "root" passages, while you're at it: Romans 11:16; 1 Timothy 6:10; and Hebrews 12:15.
It's much easier to pull up the crabgrass when it's new. It's as easy and quick as breathing. Exhale as you lean over...scoop under the roots and pull...crabgrass comes out in your hand...inhale as you rock back up. Spiritual breathing is the same: exhale in confession; inhale by asking God to renew you and fill you with His Spirit.
The longer it grows, the uglier it gets. Sin can be so seductive - until it goes to seed. The time to control a weed is when it's young, before the roots get established. In my spiritual life, that means confessing transgression as soon as the Lord makes me aware of it. And, like a diligent gardener, regularly searching the lawn for unwanted weeds and dealing with them promptly. Proverbs 4:23 says, "Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life" (NASB). Other translations use "guard" rather than "watch over" - but the instruction is clear. We should be doing soul sentry duty - on the lookout for any encroachment on our hearts from the enemy - or our own sin nature.
When I was in high school in Southern California, we planted a part of our back yard with a delicate ground cover called "baby tears." It was really pretty, but the garden snails liked it more than we did - for breakfast. I still remember my dad out there at night with a flashlight and a broom handle he called his "snail stick." The snails never had a chance to negotiate - it was not a pretty picture. But I admired my father's tenacious commitment to defend our "turf," even at weird hours of the night. He was out there every night until the plants were established, and the snails were controlled.
Likewise, we need to apply the same tenacity to guard out hearts. It may be inconvenient, but it's necessary. And isn't 1 John 1:9 good news?
Love your neighbor. If you don't control it, crabgrass in my yard will eventually affect the manicured turf next door. In life, there really is no such thing as a "victimless crime." That notion is politically correct. Have you seen the bumper sticker that says, "Focus on Your Own D*** Family"? However, this idea is at odds with the Word of God. In 1 Corinthians 12, we see how all parts of the body of Christ affect one another and must work together. If I let my lawn deteriorate - there goes the neighborhood!
I saw that recently in reading the Book of Jonah. One might argue that when Jonah boarded the ship to Tarshish, his argument with Jehovah was no concern of the others on the ship. After all, he paid his fare; and none of them even claimed allegiance to Jonah's God! But by the time they had to jettison their cargo and were afraid for their lives because of the storm, it was clear that Jonah's stubbornness had become the crew's business - literally! John Donne was right when he wrote, "No man is an island." When there is erosion in your life, it hurts your family, your ministry, and everyone else.
Work on your own lawn first. A corollary to "Love your neighbor" is this: we need to use the weeding tool on our lawns before we point out the crabgrass in our neighbors' yards. Be careful about judging - unless you have a close enough relationship with your neighbor to know your opinion is welcome, and also are willing to get your hands dirty at his house. Jesus warned us about focusing on the speck in our brother's eye, and ignoring the log in ours.
Healthy grass thwarts weeds. The best hope for keeping crabgrass under control lies in a growing relationship with the One the Bible calls, among other names, the Vinedresser. He knows about growing things, and He wants to produce fruit in my life and yours. And He makes it clear that it's not just by zeroing in on the weeds that we conquer them. When the good grass in my lawn is more vibrant, it is easier to keep weeds from germinating to begin with.
I guess you might say that makes a pretty good case for cultivating an abiding relationship with the Lord every day, huh?