24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.
27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”
It’s what makes the church so messy. Notice I didn’t say the “Body of Christ”.
Of course, God designed it so the two would be one and the same. The “Church” was the “Body of Christ”. But, then, the devil came along and planted some “sleeper cells”…folks who resided in the temporal church but were not really members of the Body of Christ. Satan put them there to distract and disrupt.
They certainly have been good at it…
Satan’s purpose, of course, was to minimize our influence in the world…look so foolish (or mean) that nobody would be interested in our message. Before long, trouble was evident. Throughout history we have witnessed great disputes in the church…many resulting in embarrassing schisms. But…what were we supposed to do? Develop some sort of authenticity test? It’s been tried many times without success. We even burned people at the stake. Its great in theory, but impossible in practice.
Plus…Jesus tells us in this parable to leave them alone. If we attempt to pull out some of the “sleepers” we may pull out some believers by accident. But, you know, it doesn’t keep some folks from trying.
It’s not worth it…
I realize the church can be a source of frustration. I’ve been part of it for 60 years. In the face of trouble we need to respond with grace and mercy. I know we want truth and justice…but we’re often indiscriminate in how we dispense it. Innocent people are hurt and the Gospel suffers.
I remember my ancient army days. When we had difficulty identifying the enemy we’d say “Nuke ‘em til they glow and let God sort them out.”
Well, God will certainly sort it all out. This parable tells us so. It’s just that He left out the “Nuke “em til they glow” part.
Live boldly out there today…
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