Matthew 13:24-30 – “ He presented them with another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a person who sowed good seed in his field. ²⁵ But while everyone was sleeping, an enemy came and sowed darnel among the wheat and went away. ²⁶ When the plants sprouted and produced grain, then the darnel also appeared. ²⁷ So the slaves of the landowner came and said to him, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the darnel come from?’ ²⁸ He said, ‘An enemy has done this!’ So, the slaves replied, ‘Do you want us to go and gather it?’ ²⁹ But he said, ‘No, since in gathering the darnel, you may uproot the wheat along with it. ³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time, I will tell the reapers, “First collect the darnel and tie it in bundles to be burned, but then gather the wheat into my barn.”

As I read, prayed, and pondered the Word of God today, the thought of being self-appointed defenders of God flooded my consciousness.  Jesus spoke of divided kingdoms in Matthew 12. In Matthew 13, we have a fascinating parable.

The tares and the wheat are growing in the same field. Several things surfaced:

• The Tares & Wheat are in the same field.
• They are growing (could speak of prominence and position).
• The Danger of Rooting out the Tares.

The Danger is destroying innocent wheat.  If we become self-appointed purgers of error, we may and probably will destroy some wheat in the process. It is always God’s heart to protect the wheat.

Is letting the tares & wheat grow together a sign that God overlooks error? Is it a sign that error is never confronted or corrected? Is it a live-and-let-live attitude that Jesus is teaching? NO! It is God’s concern for the wheat. God will deal with error in His time. Remember His warning about offending one of the little ones or weak ones? He said that the one causing the offense would be better off if they were anchored to the bottom of the ocean.

Remember what Jesus said to Peter after the resurrection about feeding and caring for the sheep?  Caring for the sheep involves being careful not to destroy them and feeding them.  A diet of truth will expose far more error with a restorative result than blazing in and pulling up tares.

Love repels more error than judgment. Love heals, restores, and preserves.   Remember, it is God’s field, not ours. Our job is to love! Our job is to be our brother’s keeper. Our job is to teach truth! Self-appointed Tare Busters do more harm than Good. Maybe they are not as wrong as you think. Maybe they are redeemable.

Let’s love God and people.