Why Is the Church Messed Up?
Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemies came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?' But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."'" Matt. 13:24-30, NKJV.
Have you ever noticed that the church is all messed up? That is has some members who are less than they should be? That some of them are downright hypocrites?
The parable of the weeds (tares) helps us understand the problem from God's perspective. It carries the explanation of the rejection of Jesus a bit further than the parable of the four soils. While the soils emphasize the perversity of human reaction, the weeds parable points beyond the human realm to the supernatural activity of the devil, to the cosmic conflict between Christ and Satan. Thus the rejection of Jesus results not only from human responsibility, but also the work of the devil (the enemy of verses 28, 39).
The weeds parable also moves the activity of the devil and the rejection of Christ and His principles right into the church. Jesus provided the parable to help Christians down through the ages to understand that the church is not perfect. It is a mixture of weeds (apparent Christians) and wheat (genuine Christians), a condition that will continue to exist until the Second Advent harvest. That does not imply that some weeds should not be removed through excommunication (see Matt. 18:15-20), but rather that in most cases human discernment will not be adequate to carry out the weeding process.
And that brings us to the final lesson in the parable of the weeds: God did not make us judges of our brothers and sisters in the church, except in cases of open sin. Congregations across history have found themselves torn up and destroyed by those who take over the prerogatives of God in condemning and judging others. Don't worry, Jesus says, God will make things right in the end. Meanwhile, we need to accept the church as what Christ told us it would be--less than perfect.
Another parable He put forth to them, saying: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemies came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, 'Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?' He said to them, 'An enemy has done this.' The servants said to him, 'Do you want us then to go and gather them up?' But he said, 'No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, "First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn."'" Matt. 13:24-30, NKJV.
Have you ever noticed that the church is all messed up? That is has some members who are less than they should be? That some of them are downright hypocrites?
The parable of the weeds (tares) helps us understand the problem from God's perspective. It carries the explanation of the rejection of Jesus a bit further than the parable of the four soils. While the soils emphasize the perversity of human reaction, the weeds parable points beyond the human realm to the supernatural activity of the devil, to the cosmic conflict between Christ and Satan. Thus the rejection of Jesus results not only from human responsibility, but also the work of the devil (the enemy of verses 28, 39).
The weeds parable also moves the activity of the devil and the rejection of Christ and His principles right into the church. Jesus provided the parable to help Christians down through the ages to understand that the church is not perfect. It is a mixture of weeds (apparent Christians) and wheat (genuine Christians), a condition that will continue to exist until the Second Advent harvest. That does not imply that some weeds should not be removed through excommunication (see Matt. 18:15-20), but rather that in most cases human discernment will not be adequate to carry out the weeding process.
And that brings us to the final lesson in the parable of the weeds: God did not make us judges of our brothers and sisters in the church, except in cases of open sin. Congregations across history have found themselves torn up and destroyed by those who take over the prerogatives of God in condemning and judging others. Don't worry, Jesus says, God will make things right in the end. Meanwhile, we need to accept the church as what Christ told us it would be--less than perfect.
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