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I learned the art of weed discrimination at an early age. Pulling weeds was my main livelihood as a boy.
A weed is simply a plant that grows where it’s not wanted. Usually, it grew rapidly and reproduced with ease. My parents wanted crabgrass and dandelions out of the lawn so they were weeds. Thistles dock, pennywort, pigweed, pokeweed, ragweed, hemlock, stinkweed and tumbleweed also had to go. I lived in weed heaven, so I always had a job.
Jesus told a parable about weeds (Matthew 13:24-30). Actually, it was about the kingdom of heaven and the weeds were not so heavenly.
A farmer planted good seeds and went to bed. At night, a nefarious enemy spoiled his field. When the wheat broke ground, so did a bunch of weeds.
The servants were confused. They knew only about the good seeds and asked, “Where then did the weeds come from?”
How? Why? These are questions even non-farmers ask about unexpected or undeserved consequences in life. It’s just not fair.
“An enemy did this,” replied the owner. Perhaps it was a competitor or some unruly kids. Either way, the culprits were long gone. The servants would have to deal with it.
“Do you want us to go and pull them up?” asked the loyal servants.
“No.” The owner was unwilling to risk rooting up wheat in the process of digging out weeds. “Let both grow together until the harvest,” he ordered. Only then would the wheat and chaff be separated.
Meanwhile, they would have to live with the weeds.
Some believers think the banner of Christian unity entitles them to rid the field of the hypocrites, free-loaders and other spiritual riff-raff. Wrong! Jesus often calls us to tolerate unwanted people and unfair circumstances. Prior to the final harvest of history, God's kingdom will be a mixed bag.
Wait! How can there be Christian unity as long as wheat must abide with chaff?
Perhaps our definition of unity is too utopian. Let’s not confuse it with uniformity in the ranks. Does God want us back at the base inspecting each other endlessly to weed out the weak or marching through the fields planting seeds together?
Leave it to God to purify His kingdom. Unity grows as weed-pullers become seed-planters. We work in the fields until harvest, even if weeds benefit from our toil, and we have to suffer from their prickly personalities. In fact, the Holy Spirit may well right now be transforming those pesky weeds at your church into wheat.
Genuine unity exists on invisible kingdom terms. There is a lot of chaff that looks like wheat. And if I qualify as wheat, then I know wheat can sometimes look like chaff. It is dangerous to judge by appearances under a presumed banner of unity. History is full of examples of superficial unity.
However, a Christian is not just anyone who wears the label. We know that fewer people will enter the kingdom of heaven than those who cry, "Lord, Lord!" (Matthew 7:21). But that separation is best left to God.
We are not called to spiritual blindness, doctrinal apathy or ethical laziness under the banner of unity. We are called to vigilant self-discipline through the Holy Spirit and there is a time and place for spiritual discipline in God’s church. Paul predicted that savage wolves (Acts 20:29), often in sheep's clothing, would be found among believers. There are biblical terms for dealing with such painful problems and pretenses this side of the harvest. History has also seen some substantive separations.
In God’s kingdom, struggle should not surprise us or easily drive us from each other. Discomfort may be a tool God is using to unite His kingdom on His terms. God has forgiven and sustained us. We should do no less with each other. Division in God’s kingdom rises when the wheat think they shouldn’t have to put up with weeds, especially at church. But what makes us so sure we really know the difference?
SO WHAT?
Our church regularly sings songs of faith at a local convalescent home. Many of the residents get few visitors. One man told me that all his people were dead. He never misses our singing times. The residents often ask us if we are from St. John's. We tell them we are from the Church of Christ. Either way, they are glad we are there.
Could it be that God sees us through their lonely eyes? It humbles me that churches who teach things I cannot reconcile well with Scripture are the ones who are often in convalescent homes. As we tear issues and identities apart in pursuit of religious correctness, we better be in convalescent homes, on the streets and in the fields more than those who we think are in error. God dislikes cold neglect and indifference at least as much as doctrinal slippage. Perhaps, the battle will be won through ministry more than debate. Meanwhile God patiently waits for our passion for concepts and doctrines to also involve lonely souls whose minds can no longer handle the debates.
Joel Mark Solliday, B.A., M.Div., is the editor of Campus CrossWalk and the pulpit minister of the Northern Light Church of Christ in Minnesota. A Pepperdine graduate, he later worked in their Campus Life Office. He served as a Missionary in Residence at ACU. He earned his M.Div. at Fuller Theological Seminary. His wife Katie is a fine school teacher and a great listener.
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