by David Melton
We have a problem at Boston Baptist College, weeds. Not anything illegal, you understand…our problem is just undesirable weeds.
It was a long hot summer in New England — more typical of West Texas than Eastern Massachusetts. The grass just couldn’t take it, but the weeds did just fine. Go figure.
Maybe my favorite place on our Boston campus is the Walk of Light. We began building it a few years back in honor of Dr. Harry Boyle’s retirement. The Walk is a tribute to lifelong faithfulness, and it is a beautiful walk surrounded by inscribed granite pillars that stand as tribute to men and women who have “walked the walk.” I do the Walk most days — it is a great place to pray, to remember the giants on whose shoulders we stand, to be inspired to press on for lifelong faithfulness.
But now there are weeds on the Walk, and I hate it. So students have seen me out there from time to time pulling weeds. And they often help me. Chelsea has helped; Stacey is an amazing weed-puller. Her brother, Ryan, isn’t too shabby himself. And there are more.
I am not sure they understand why I hate the weeds so much. Maybe they just think I look pitiful out there. But I’m glad to have them. I am at war with the weeds, and students are helping me on my mission.
I am not a gardener, but I have learned something from the weeds on our Walk of Light. If you really want to get rid of the weeds, you cannot just break off what is visible. You have to pull like you mean it and get the roots that are below the surface. We use all the sprays we can, and we cut and trim, but the real war of the weeds is down on our knees, rooting out the stuff that doesn’t belong.
Boston Baptist College is a weeding endeavor. God sends us young people from all over the world. Some are highly motivated and have a very clear vision of what God’s calling on their lives looks like. Others are much more diamonds in the rough who come from all kinds of challenging situations — but who hope to live lives that make an eternal difference. But we all bring our weeds. It may not sound too glamorous, but to do ministry education with value, it does mean that we must not only add knowledge, we must do some subtraction as well. The writer of Hebrews talked about laying aside the sin that so easily besets us so we can run the race set before us. I have already told our student body in chapel that we have to be ready to be changed if we are serious about serving the Lord Jesus.
The weeds have to go. They have to be pulled up by the roots if we are serious. That is true on the Walk of Light and it is true on the walk of life.