Jesus’ parable of the wheat and the tares (The NIV calls it the Parable of the Weeds) in the 13th Chapter of Matthew, is a picture of something that is quite common in many of today’s churches, other than yours, of course. I am referring to the “weeds” that are growing together with the wheat. Whether the “weeds” represent saved or unsaved members of the church, the workers of the field (pastors) cannot and should not remove them. In the parable, the workers asked the Owner if they should pull them out. He replied: “No, because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them.” (Mt. 13:29)
Here’s how that situation relates to the pastor and his “weeds.” Most pastors would not hesitate to remove them…….if they could. In fact, because the weeds are oftentimes easily recognizable, many pastors are often criticized when they don’t do a thing about them. Here’s the problem: In many cases, these weeds are directly connected to the good wheat, close friends or family members, to be exact. They are like inoperable cancers. Trying to remove such cancers will result in destroying or doing great harm to the vital organs or tissues connected to them. In the church’s case, if you remove these “weeds”, many good members may go with them. That is like a surgeon cutting off a hand when only one finger is infected.
I pray yours is not one of them but many churches have “weeds”, and when they are connected to the good wheat, only the Lord can remove them if and when He wants to. If we trust God, as we should, He will take care of this problem if and whenever He sees fit. Meanwhile, He will give us the grace to endure as we wait upon Him and He will also use the situation to teach us, give us patience, and strengthen us in our faith in the process. This is just one more instance where we have to rely on the promise of Romans 8:28. Be sure about this: The Lord knows exactly what is going on and He hears us prayers. Our part is to trust and wait upon Him.
God’s word for today: (Matthew 13:30) 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.”
