The Wheat and the Tares

The teachings of Christ are truly far more advanced than any other person in the history of the world and one way to get across His messes is through His parables. These are stories that have a bigger meaning behind them. The story is important but it illustrates a bigger idea or concept. Often times, these stories go along or are cast alongside another message, intertwined together, to tell something more. Although Christ did not have any degree, He was called teacher and the way He taught and how He taught goes to illustrate just how in tuned He was then and how in tuned He is, still.

All of His teachings and parables are significant and relevant to today’s society and to our lives, as Christians. Despite what our modern society tells us, we cannot abandon His teachings and/or compromise with the world in world to viewers, a bigger congregation, or to sell memorable. Unfortunately, many churches and leaders across the country and the world have done just this. Rather than staying true to the original teachings, they have compromised in order to reach a bigger audience. This, at first, may sound like a good investment but when you tweak the word of God to fit your perspective, you’re changing everything about what God has set forth.

God’s word is clear that we are not to do this. We are told to keep His commandments as they are given. Deuteronomy 4:2 reads “Ye shall not add unto the word which I command you, neither shall ye diminish ought from it, that ye may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.” Simple enough, correct? Sadly, this teaching is being overlooked or completely ignored by many of those within the church or those in leadership positions as a way to accomplish other goals. Maybe the intention(s) has nothing to do with compromise or changing of the word but to get people interested in God but when we begin to change even the smallest idea, we are playing right into the hands of the enemy.

One of the most fundamental lessons that we, as Christians, learn is we reap what we sow: “Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap” (Galatians 6:7).We learn that God is not mocked and that we get back what we put in. When someone sits down to knit a garment, whatever they put into this garment, they will see their efforts rewarded and the same is true for anything else that we do in this life. When we do something for Christ, whatever it may be and despite how big or small it is, we must do so honorably and give it our best effort as a halfhearted attempt will not get you honest returns and one of the best examples is that of the wheat and the tares.

Then Jesus sent the multitude away, and went into the house: and his disciples came unto him, saying, Declare unto us the parable of the tares of the field. He answered and said unto them, He that soweth the good seed is the Son of man; The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one; The enemy that sowed them is the devil; the harvest is the end of the world; and the reapers are the angels. “

—Matthew 13:36-39

Christ is clear about His teaching and His explanation of what He meant. However, with that said, there is a lot of misinterpretation with this teaching. There are many people that believe the Christ’s teaching illustrated the condition of the church by explaining the field is the church and. that there are true believers and teachers, represented by the wheat, but there are also deceivers and fake teachers/believers and they are represented by the tares. This belief, while true, is not the message Christ was trying to get across with the wheat and the tares but rather, Christ was explaining that the field is not the church but rather, the world: “he field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one” (Matthew 13:38).

The farmer, naturally, depends on the crop for their living. This is how they survive in this world and when the crops are not doing well, they do not do as well. When you have good mixed in with the bad, you have to separate the two. That’s the easy part but in the parable that Christ gave, rather than pulling the wheat from the tares at that moment, the farmer decided to wait until the harvest to separate the two. When this parable is discussed, we cannot forget about the fact that, as believers, we are among wolves that appear in sheep’s clothing and it is very difficult to tell the two apart and it’s very difficult at times but rather than spending our time judging who are believe is true and who is true, let’s spend time with God and doing His will and let God separate them. After all, we do not know the other person’s heart so the individual that seems sincere in their words and actions may be a wolf in sheep clothing while the one that seems lost may be the genuine article.

As believers, it is not our job to play judge, jury, and executioner. We do have a duty to preach the word of God and to make believers or nonbelievers but we have to be careful about how we go about this. God does not want us to play games with His word and our responsibilities but He also does not want us to play dictator and do as Mohammed did and kill anyone who does not convert to Islam. No, we serve a bigger God than that who wants us to do our best and leave the rest up to Him. This does not mean that everyone will come to accept Christ, unfortunately, but there is only so much that we can do. We may never know the true impact of our works but we do not have to. Yes, we would like to think that our efforts paid off but we do not have to know this which is why we are to simply trust in God. If someone rejects us then we are instructed to dust ourselves off and move on as we cannot spend too much time on those who reject us. The best we can do is plant the seed and let Christ work on the growth.

I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.”

—1 Corinthians 3:6