Weeds and Wheat

In Matthew 13 Jesus gave the parable of the weeds and wheat. He made it plain that in the church the devil will come in and sow weeds among the wheat. This will happen until the end of the age. In the beginning it will be impossible to tell the wheat from the weeds...until fruit bearing time (when heads are formed on the wheat). While we can never remove all of the weeds from the wheat, the two are distinctly different and we can discern which is which by knowing these differences.

 Weeds are carnal.
 Wheat is spiritual.
 Weeds will always want power and will not be above threats, schemes, and power grabs in order to get it. They do not want to serve. They want to advise, direct and criticize. They see the church as a “service” and they are the consumer.
 Wheat serves. They are content quietly serving where they are. They take the lowliest seat and agree to lead only if they see how it is for the greater good of the Body and the Kingdom. They never look at what is in it for them (influence, status, perks, privileges, etc.) They see the church as a collection of servants acting under direct command of the Head, Jesus Christ.
 Weeds will always make it about them. When they do not get their way it does not even occur to them to let go of what they want for the greater good of God's kingdom, or to simply seek God’s direction and humbly and peacefully seek a place where they can worship and serve more effectively. It is their church. Things must be done their way. People must listen to them, put them first, their needs and priorities trump all else. If their needs (demands) are not met there will be Hades to pay and they will make sure they are noticed and they disrupt then they leave. After all, it is all about them.

What is the best way to overcome the weeds?

• Hang out with wheat not weeds. If you hang out with weeds they will choke the life out of you. Hang out with the wheat. Better yet, hang out with sinners; lost people, immoral people, materialistic people, foul-mouthed people…This is the Jesus way. This is who He hung out with. They know nothing about wheat or weeds. They don’t even know what they don’t know. They need life and it is found in the one who died for them and He left it to us to make it real for them…no plan b. Get busy. If you and I are not sharing our faith then we resemble weeds more than wheat. We can pretend that we care for the things of God but God cares for no one more that lost people. Jesus left heaven and gave it His all to reach them. We are hypocrites if we say we love Him and all we do is stroke our own egos and feed our already morbidly obese spiritual selves. Get out of the church building, quit playing games and find people who are going to Hell and love them like Jesus does. The Gates of Hell cannot prevail against you. However the Gates of Hell will fare just fine if we sit on our well padded bottoms debating polity and by-laws and do nothing to be Jesus to the Hell-bound. There is a judgment day coming and the wheat will be gathered into the barn (heaven). The weeds will be pulled up and burned in the fire....are you ready?