Tares

 There are tares among the wheat; Jesus said as much. We can parse words, split hairs, and blame the changing culture and the shifting sentiment, but it does nothing to take away from the reality that there are tares among the wheat. Granted, nowadays, it’s hard to tell them apart because the wheat is looking more like tares than ever before, but when the reapers come, they are well versed in knowing which is which, and they will set about their task of gathering together the tares, bundling them in bundles, and setting them alight.

You can pass off a fake to someone who is uninitiated, who’s had no experience with the real thing, but when someone’s entire existence has been spent discerning the real from the counterfeit, no matter how close to authentic it may have gotten, it will still be discovered, and summarily removed.

The tares have gotten comfortable, thinking no one has noticed them, but the owner of the field upon which the wheat was planted is judicious, and watchful, and fully aware that his enemy sowed tares among His wheat. Don’t mistake God’s patience for His acceptance, validation, or approval. Just because He has not judged it doesn’t mean He won’t, and just because He terries, it doesn’t mean the tares have slipped His mind, and He’s too busy with other things.

While we have the saying all in good time, God’s saying is more precise, being all in perfect time. He knows when the tares are to be separated from the wheat, He knows when they must be bundled up and cast into the fire because His primary concern is not the removal of the tares but the maturation of the wheat.

Both grow together until the time of the harvest. Yes, you can still tell them apart; you can still know wheat from tare, but they cohabitate, share the same space, and grow from the same soil. One is destined to go into the Master’s barn, the other into the fire, and there will be no way of switching sides or pretending to be something other than a tare when the reapers come.

Matthew 13:24-30, “Another parable He put forth to them, saying: ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants 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 servants said to him, ‘Do you want us to then go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. 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 up in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.’”

The tares don’t grow where they grow accidentally or haphazardly. In His parable, Jesus insists that the enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat. It is a worthwhile point to ponder because the older I get, the more I realize that very few events in life are truly accidental, and most of the time, it was either a God thing or a devil thing. Your job is to discern which is which and reject what comes from the enemy while embracing what comes from God.

Some things are easier to discern than others, but if you’re having difficulty on the discernment front, there’s always prayer and the Word to fall back on as litmus tests for which is which. Some days it’s as though the devil isn’t even trying. His snare is easy to spot; you avoid it and go about the rest of your day. Other days, it’s a layered attack with people who invested many months in gaining your trust and friendship before they pounce.

I’ve been called unloving and standoffish more times than I can count because I refuse to do one on one counseling with someone who’d just spent the better part of thirty minutes telling me how they’d recently left their husband, are in a vulnerable position, and just need a shoulder to cry on, and someone to understand the real them.

When I point out that we could have a conversation in public just as readily as in private and that it would be proper to do it in public anyway, it’s like a switch flips, and suddenly, there’s real anger there for nothing more than suggesting a public space rather than a private one.

The devil isn’t happy when he fails. You’ll know he’s failed because the attitude of the individual he is using to try to ensnare you turns on a dime, and you’re left there wondering how they hid the other side of themselves so well to begin with.

A wise man knows to point to a situation and declare, ‘An enemy has done this.’ That ought to suffice as far as explanations go, and if it doesn’t, then whomever you are trying to explain it to is just being difficult for the sake of it, not because they’re ignorant of the statement’s meaning.

You should know what an enemy is if you’re a fully grown human. If you’re a mature Christian, you should already know that you have an enemy. It’s not difficult to figure out why the tares are where they are once you determine that the enemy has done it. Then again, people still believe they are their own worst enemy, not realizing that sharp claws and sharper fangs wait in the shadows for an opportune moment to strike.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.