I started blogging almost ten years ago on Xanga, and thanks to Steven I ended up on my old blog today.  Looking through old posts, I found one I thought I would share. This was first published on May 27, 2013.

I began to weed my garden.

Last summer I did a tiny bit of container gardening, and in the autumn planted some mums in the ground. That was a big deal for me. I’ve always thought I had two black thumbs, but after my little successes last summer, I am expanding my horizons.

So, I started to weed the flower beds beside the house.    I like to weed. It is slow work for me, but with every weed I pull I imagine what I can plant in its place. I’m not very ambitious, and know very little about growing, but there’s a lot to like about being in the garden. It’s very satisfying.

Well, it was very satisfying, until I took my eyes off the nice, black plot I had just cleared. That happened on my second day. I stood up and admired my hard work, but as I turned to take my tools back to the shed I noticed all the weeds that still remained.

“Why are you always judging me?”

“Jesus said, ‘Don’t judge, lest you be judged.’”

“I just want to be encouraged. You’re always focusing on my sin.”

These are just three out of a myriad of statements I hear in the course of my day, working with a man in a discipleship relationship. In fact, there is a mindset throughout the church in America that believes there is no place for the Christian to judge; everything we say from the pulpit or to one another should be loving encouragement that never highlights sin, erroneous thinking, or plain rebellion to God. I honestly have to ask myself if people are even reading the same Bible. Have they read even one of Paul’s letters, or Proverbs, or the Prophets, or the words of Jesus?

The ministry verse of New Brothers Fellowship is 1 John 1:7, which reads: