Growing up in North Florida, which is an extension of South Georgia and South Alabama, I was very familiar with a plant called “Kudzu”. The scientific name is Pueraria Montana. It is sometimes referred to as “the vine that ate the South.” It was brought to America from Asia in the late19th century as a way to combat soil erosion and it seemed to have some potential for livestock feed. It even has blue flowers that smell sweet. But something unexpected happened…

Kudzu is a very fast-growing vine. It can completely cover entire barns and homes within a full summer. In some places, it easily grows to cover entire forested areas. Kudzu can grow up to one foot per day and it thrives in the heat and seems to be impervious to drought. It grows so fast that it overtakes any indigenous plants in the area. 

I remember battling the kudzu vine many a summer day on my Uncle’s farm in middle Georgia and as a homeowner in Atlanta. You could burn it, but it would grow back. You could dig it up from the main root system, but it would still grow back. I have even used weed killer, with not much success. It was almost always a weekly battle, and you had to be consistent because it was everywhere. 

The thing about kudzu is, that as it grows, it puts more roots down as it creeps along the ground or crawls up houses, called “runners”. It doesn’t take very long for these root systems to get hold and grow deep into the soil. To effectively halt its ability to take over, you must get every section of the vine that has rooted itself into the soil. Kudzu vines can easily grow over 100 feet, so that is a lot of roots! The bottom line about kudzu control is; It never stops, so you can’t!

There was a summer in Atlanta that I did not pay much attention to our backyard because I was so busy, and mostly because it was hard work. I didn’t want to take time to pull up kudzu vines in 95 plus degree heat and 90 percent humidity! In our back yard we had a barn and beside it was a large fig tree. The kudzu had completely covered the fig tree and most of the barn, even growing inside the barn. The fig tree had been a source of enjoyment, but now it was at risk of being overrun by the kudzu. It took several days to battle the vine and I often had to pull up kudzu runners that rest of the summer so that would not happen again. I had to constantly work to keep the kudzu off the fig tree.         

Human philosophy is a lot like kudzu. It can easily creep into the church and the lives of Christians. The world has always been at odds with the wisdom and truth of God. The word philosophy is a compound Greek word meaning love of wisdom. Phileo meaning love, Sophia meaning wisdom. When we attempt to mix the philosophy of the world with the wisdom of God, the result is far from being good. Today the Gospel of Jesus Christ has been added to and even replaced through the unchecked creeping vine called “wisdom” and philosophies of men.

Charles Gordon, in his book “Vitamins for Your Soul”, gave an illustration of just how the philosophy of the world creeps into the church and what the outcome is.

There was a little country chapel that had a sign above its doorway. The sign was beautifully made and decorated with ivy. The sign proudly expressed, “We preach Christ crucified.” When church gatherers came, they understood why they were coming. “Godly men, men with courage, integrity, and sincerity preached the whole truth. They preached that unless a man repents, he will never see God. They preached that a man must be born again. They called sin by its name and they preached the undying love of the friend of sinners, Jesus Christ.” After a few years the ivy started to grow over the sign and instead of reading, “We preach Christ crucified”, the sign read “We preach Christ.” It was somewhat prophetic as the message being preached inside the chapel was becoming slightly diluted. A more social, political, and moral Gospel was being preached. A few more years passed and the ivy grew to cover the sign even more. Now it only read “We Preach.” The name of Jesus was seldom spoken of, sin and the need for repentance was replaced with men’s philosophies, social orders, conditions, ideologies, poetry, history, and nice stories.  (excerpt from Buchan, Angus. Is Jesus Enough? Vereeniging: Christian Art Publishers, 2016.)             

Jesus spoke of this in Mark 13:22-23

“For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, the elect. But be on guard; I have told you all things beforehand.”

Peter warned about this in 2 Peter 2:1-3

“But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.”

 

Paul also spoke to this in 2 Timothy 4:3-4

“For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”

So how can you as a Christin not get covered up with the fast creeping kudzu of the world? 

By getting into God’s Word. That means that you are reading and studying on your own, daily. 

Be very careful what you watch and listen to, and the relationships that you are engaged in.

You must be diligent to keep it from intertwining with your heart and thoughts and with your children’s hearts and thoughts. 

It’s a constant day after day battle with the vine of the world. 

Be very careful, because the vine of the world grows faster than you think, it puts down roots that go deep and are hard to dig up.