Check the soil. Sow in the Spirit. Uproot the flesh.

Growth in the flesh and the Spirit cannot happen simultaneously; one will consistently stifle the other.

As I was getting ready for a run this morning, I walked by the church’s dual staircase and noticed a small weed growing in the grout between the bricks. It’s not supposed to be there, yet it’s somehow taken root. People have walked by this little weed for weeks, coming and going from church, and no one has bothered to pull it out. Instantly, a thought came to mind: whatever you allow space, roots will take hold and grow. Paul explains the progression of sowing, highlighting the contrast between living by the flesh and by the Spirit, saying, “For whatever a person sows he will also reap because the one who sows to his flesh will reap destruction from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit” (Galatians 6:7-8, Christian Standard Bible).

In the life of a disciple, two types of soil exist: the flesh and the Spirit. Either will produce a harvest, one destruction, and the other life. It would be presumptuous to think that a disciple would never sow in the flesh throughout their life. It only takes a little soil for the roots of the flesh to take hold, as illustrated in the picture. The danger is not immediately uprooting the flesh-sown desire because a disciple will naturally gravitate toward whatever they allow to take root in their life. The flesh draws and entices a disciple to allow space for roots. James says after the desire has been “conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death” (James 1:15, CSB). Dietrich Bonhoeffer illustrates the ongoing struggle between the flesh and Spirit, saying, “It is always true of the disciple that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak, and he must therefore ‘watch and pray’ . . . When all is said and done, the life of faith is nothing if not an unending struggle of the Spirit with every available weapon against the flesh.”[1]

A disciple must always be mindful of gardeners looking after and inspecting their soil. At the first sign that the flesh is at work, a struggle must ensue, and as Bonhoeffer exhorts with every available spiritual weapon (Eph. 6:13-18). Sowing in the Spirit is a crucial part of the sanctification process in a disciple’s life. Every disciple has growth to attain in Christlikeness. None have reached a level of maturity not to inspect their soil. In his book, The Radical Disciple, John Stott makes this point by saying that “we do not emerge from the new birth with the understanding and character of a mature Christian, still less with fully grown wings of an angel but rather ‘like newborn babies”—weak, immature, vulnerable and needing above all to grow.”[2] The roots of the flesh restrict the Spirit's space, just as the Spirit does for the flesh. Growth in the flesh and the Spirit cannot happen simultaneously; one will consistently stifle the other.

The danger of a disciple not constantly inspecting their soil is the delay between sowing and reaping. The delay may create a blind spot, allowing roots to take hold firmly. The delay can also generate an attitude of complacency, leading to a disciple’s lack of awareness of the spiritual dangers until sin is fully grown. Check the soil. Sow in the Spirit. Uproot the flesh.

What areas of your life need to be evaluated? Have you looked for weeds that may be taking root? Have you become comfortable and complacent in certain areas? Start there when checking your soil.

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[1] Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship (New York, NY: Touchstone, 1995), 170-171.

[2] John Stott, The Radical Disciple: Some Neglected Aspects of Our Calling (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 2010), 87.