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“Jesus presented another parable to them, saying, “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went away. When the wheat sprouted and produced grain, then the tares also appeared. The slaves 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 slaves said to him, ‘Do you want us, then, to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No; for while you are gathering up the tares, you may uproot the wheat with them. Allow both to grow together until the harvest; and in the time of the harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather up the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them up; but gather the wheat into my barn.”’” (Matthew 13:24-30 NASB)

This parable speaks to the reality of good and evil coexisting in the world, and specifically within the church. The enemy sows tares (false believers, those who cause division and spread falsehood) among the true believers (the wheat). Our human instinct might be to immediately root out the weeds, to purify the church and separate the good from the bad. But Jesus cautions against this. We lack the perfect discernment to accurately judge who is truly wheat and who is a tare. Our attempts to purify might cause more harm than good, uprooting true believers in the process.

This parable teaches patience and trust in God's timing. He will separate the wheat from the tares at the harvest, the final judgment. Until then, we are called to focus on our own growth, striving to be fruitful wheat, rooted in Christ. We should not be consumed with judging others, but rather with cultivating our own faith and allowing God to work in His own time and way. Let us pray for discernment and wisdom as we navigate the complexities of the world and the church, trusting in God's ultimate justice and sovereignty.