I heard something fascinating in a podcast today that really made me think. The speaker suggested that we can engage with the world through the perspective of either a knight or a gardener.
The knight approaches perceived enemies with attack, driven by a desire to conquer and win at all costs.
In contrast, the gardener views perceived enemies as relationships to be cultivated with love, nurturing something new.
The speaker went on to emphasize that the way of the gardener isn’t rooted in naivety. Gardeners understand that cultivation is demanding, requiring faithful diligence and deep care.
It strikes me that too many of us who claim to follow Christ fashion ourselves as holy knights, when the call of the gospel is to be redeeming gardeners.