Lantana and the Battle Against Sin
If you’ve ever tried clearing lantana, you know it’s no walk in the park. Those thorny branches are relentless — twisting, tangling, and digging deep into the ground. Funnily enough, lantana wasn’t always like that. It’s a reminder of the fall. The thorns only appeared after sin entered the world.
Tackling lantana can feel overwhelming at first. You look at the thick mess and think, “There’s no way that I can clear this.” But when you get started, you realise it’s doable. It just takes perseverance, the right tools, and a little know-how from those who have done it before. Sometimes they come out easily. Other times, they’re so stubborn you need a mattock to dig deep them out.
The trick is that you can’t just deal with lantana once and call it done. Seeds can sit in the soil for 30 years, and birds are constantly dropping new ones. If you don’t stay on top of it, the weeds take over again. But the good news? Once you’ve done the hard work of clearing it, it’s way easier to “nip it in the bud” when it tries to grow back.
In many ways, sin is just like lantana.
If we don’t deal with sin in our lives, it spreads quietly and strangles the beautiful things God is growing in us, like joy, peace, and love. It can block the view of His handiwork altogether. But when we get serious about clearing it out, when we confess, repent, and stay alert, we start to see life the way God intended.
Removing the lantana from our lives enables us to experience the beauty of God’s creation, and at the same time experience His workmanship in our lives to purify us as his chosen vessels. And just as it becomes easier to control the lantana when it tries to grow back by “nipping it in the bud”, we find His Spirit ever changing us in the inner man towards true sanctification and holiness of life. One of the known benefits of clearing lantana is the uncovering of a beautiful loamy soil rich in nutrients. Like our hearts cleansed from the filth of sin by the loving grace of God to be “the ones sown on good ground, those who hear the word, accept it, and bear fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some a hundred” (Mark 4: 20).
Yes, we do have lantana in our lives and God calls us into the hard but beautiful work of restoration. Yes, the clearing of the creek of lantana is good, but it is not about us patting ourselves on the back for a job well done. It is about giving glory to our creator, God, who calls us to care for his creation which includes the garden of our own hearts. So next time you see a patch of lantana, maybe ask yourself: “Is there anything tangled up in my life that needs pulling out?”
Lantana and the Great Commission
The other day I listened to a great sermon by John Piper about the Glory of God. It inspired me to get stuck in to clear a section of lantana along my creek. For many years, this section of lantana has beaten me. There are acres of it. To me, the whole job just seemed daunting and not achievable. As I was cutting out this lantana, I thought about the great commission and meeting the gospel needs of people around the world, and how that also seemed daunting and unachievable. After 2 hours of crazy hard work, my arms were dead, but I looked back at what I did, and I was blown away. I made a huge difference and proved to myself that this is not an insurmountable job at all. All it needs is the right mind set, right attitude, the right tools and the right preparation. It’s the same with the great commission. After a bit of research, I learned the following:
Current state of affairs:
- Between 28% and 40% of Christians in the world do not have a Bible.
- More than 3 billion people worldwide are considered unreached with the gospel.
- 4 billion people live on less than $2 a day.
What are we supposed to do about it?
1 John 3:17-18 says “But whoever has material possessions, and sees his brother in need, but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words, but with actions and in truth.”
What are we doing about it?
Christians worldwide only give ~1.86% of their income to God. So, for every $100,000 a Christian makes, $1,860 is given to God. Of that $1860, only $1.83 (or 0.01%) goes to take the gospel to the unreached, which is one of our primary objectives as Christians – the great commission. If every Chistian gave an additional $2 per year, the great commission could be achieved.
You might want to pause and read those stats again. When I read this, I felt a sense of shame. Imagine how God would feel? We ought to examine ourselves, particularly with regard to Matthew 25:42 “For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.” Also, Matthew 6:21 says, “where your money is, there your heart will be also”.
These are sobering scriptures. Now back to John Piper’s sermon. He talks about how we all fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23) and asserts that the reason why is found in Romans 1:23. We’ve … “exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images…” (and idols). Those stats above prove that biblical statement overwhelmingly.
So, what are you going to do about it now?
Perhaps it also begs the question why only 0.01% of our giving to God (worldwide) is going to core gospel mission to unreached peoples? We’ve all fallen short, but the glory of the gospel is that there is forgiveness if we repent of our sin. Not only are we forgiven, but God gives us His righteousness as well, so we can glorify and enjoy Him and be part of his mission in the world!
