by John Reincke
Nowhere in the Bible can you find the parable of the crabgrass seed. You know very well the parable of the grain and the weeds. There is the mustard seed story. There is no doubt that you could find the parable of the sower and the seed quickly in your Bible. The parable of storing up grain on earth has great meaning. But nothing on the seed of the crabgrass plant. For those of you still maintaining natural grass athletic fields, perhaps you are familiar with the pesky characteristics of the dreaded crabgrass. It is on our game field where I learned way too much about this unwanted greenery. Earlier this year, I became aware of a very important parallel between a former student from eighteen years ago and this challenging plant.
“Jimmy” was THAT student. He struggled academically. He was obnoxious. He picked on anyone. He was disrespectful. He could be vulgar, inappropriate, and hurtful. He could make ministry miserable. His mother coddled him and turned everything around making it the school’s fault. We took every step sans expulsion in terms of discipline to try to get him onboard. Nothing worked. By the skin of his teeth, he graduated after four long years. There was much rejoicing that graduation day because Jimmy was no longer our headache. Graduating students like Jimmy is bittersweet. There is the obvious joy, but also disappointment that your mission was not accomplished.
This past spring, I attended a civic function in our town hall. Volunteers were being honored by local county leaders. My wife and I were escorting a church friend to the event as she collected her recognition. As I surveyed the crowd, my attention was drawn to the adult version of Jimmy. Standing behind the crowd was the Fire Marshall of one of the towns in the county. It was Jimmy! Completely adorned in a pressed and tucked uniform with a badge and ribbons, Jimmy stood proud and confident.
When the time was right, I made my way over. As his attention was drawn to my approach, his posture changed. No longer was he the proud and confident city official. His shoulders slumped. His head bowed. He turned a shade of pink. I could barely get his name out of my mouth before he spoke these words, “Mr. Reincke, I am sorry. Thank you for not giving up on me.”
The frustrating thing about crabgrass seed is that it can lie dormant for years. When the conditions are right, this seed will germinate and reproduce a healthy plant filling in the spot where it was dropped.
Most of you reading this article decided at one point to leave the classroom and the students sitting in front of you. Your opportunity to rejoice in growth and accomplishment witnessed in the classroom was left behind. I often miss seeing a class master the math that I explained to them. That was satisfying. But as you made the transition to administration, the students now entering your “classroom” (i.e. office) were mostly the difficult ones with an attitude. Many of you watched the percentage of positive growth stories nosedive. There were and are small victories along the way, but they are so often difficult to realize at the time.
My prayer for you is that you have a Jimmy story of your own. Jimmy was a good reminder to me that sometimes we take on work that is not ours. Where I had thought I had failed in my ministry to Jimmy, I was overstepping my job description. Jimmy heard what he needed to hear, but the conditions for him to “germinate” were not right. The Holy Spirit completed this work in His time. Faith comes from hearing (Romans 10:17). Our job is to be the voice of Truth in the lives of our students, and let God do the rest. I often place too much stress on myself in not winning over every student that makes it into the office; and then God sends in Jimmy to let you know Who is in charge. It is so much easier to have joy in ministry when you remember that God is in control.
John Reincke is the Principal at Lutheran High School North in Macomb MI. He can be reached at jreincke@lhsa.com.