Weeding grows the garden.
If you've ever spent time in a garden, you'll realize that most of your energy is spent in weeding. Any gardener knows that weeds will always be present, so it's not if they appear - it's when they appear. A good gardener also has a plan to address the weed problem.
Of course, there are a number of different ways to weed. One may use chemicals. There's the old fashioned way of simply pulling the weeds up by their roots. Regardless of the method, the reality is that along with the weeds, some of the nearby plants get damaged as well. It's inevitable, but necessary for the overall health and growth of the garden.
In the Church, we're faced with weeds, and it's up to the overseers to serve as the gardeners. The longer we allow the weeds to be present, the more damage there will be when the weeds are removed. We never want to let the weeds remain, though, out of fear of damaging a few of the nearby plants. As overseers, it's our responsibility to protect the health of the entire garden.
5 comments:
Where is the scripture to support this? How do people in the church make the decision as to which people are so called "weeds" are to be removed? I thought this was God's responsibility.
This is using a parable out of context. This is taking discipline in the church to something that it was never intended to be.
This is purely a leadership issue. As a leader and an overseer of a church, it is my responsibility to ensure that "weeds" don't grow in my garden. In other words, there are certain people and certain actions that are harmful to the flock. Any leader or pastor worth his salt is going to take necessary action to protect his flock from anything or anyone who is harmful. That is absolutely Scriptural.
For example, if you've got someone who is stirring up dissention. The pastor/leader should address that person, give him/her a chance to repent. If there is no repentance and the harmful attitude/actions/words continue, the pastor should remove that person from the flock before further damage can be done.
The servants asked him, “Do you want us to go and pull them up?”
“No,” he answered, “Because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned, then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn” -- Matthew 13:24-30
The servants made a reasonable suggestion, whether it might be best if they simply pulled up the weeds.
How often might we do this while thinking only of the present, and not the future?
How often might we do this for the sole purpose of our own comfort level?
God sometimes uses evil men for his own purposes.
It is not always an easy matter to discriminate between good and bad, and being human, we are likely to err and to fall into sin. In fact, we will probably find those in heaven, accepted by God, whom we would have rejected here on earth.
Judging the heart is God’s prerogative
The Parable of the Weeds has absolutely no context to this discussion whatsoever. The Parable of the Weeds is an eschatological parable, clearly explained as just that by Jesus in Matt 13:36-43.
I certainly said nothing about judging anyone's heart. You're putting words into my mouth. We will all be judged by our fruit!
I encourage you all to read Jesus' warning to the overseers of the Church found in Acts 20:28-31. I take my role as overseer and protector of COAHC *very* seriously. Far be it from me to neglect my God-given responsibility to protect my sheep against wolves or weeds who will devour and damage those who have been entrusted to me. Far be it from me to fear man more than God!
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