Recently I have been reflecting upon the parable of the weeds, found in Matthew 13:24-30.  In this parable, the master tells the servants not to pull the weeds that have sprung up among the emerging grain, lest the grain also get uprooted.  He tells them to wait until harvest time to pull the weeds.

Later in that same chapter (vs. 36-43), Jesus explained this parable to the disciples, including the explanation that harvest time in the parable is the end of the age.  So, the primary application of this parable is indeed the end of the age.  But in listening to a sermon recently, I saw an important additional application of this parable that I had not seen before.

In the parable, the servants are instructed to not pull up the weeds (the sons of the evil one) – that is the duty of the reapers (the angels).  The weeds (the sons of the evil one) are to remain until the end of the age.

In discussing this with my wife, she helped me to clearly understand an important application:  We are not to be the weed pullers.  That is the responsibility of God and His angels.  

Wow!  How often do we find ourselves exercising a self-righteous attitude toward others whose actions or attitudes we do not approve of?  How often do we then withdraw our spirit from those people and cut off our relationship with him or her?  When we cut off a relationship in this way, we are uprooting them from our heart and therefore treating them as a weed.  And sadly, we can find ourselves being weed pullers not only in the world but in the church, among our own brothers and sisters in Christ.  

Now, let me be clear.  Do we have a responsibility to “speak the truth in love” and to lovingly confront our fellow believers who are in error?  Yes.  Here is the biblical approach to compassionate confrontation:

Matthew 18:15 NASB  "If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother.  

The key is the attitude of our heart.  When we confront a fellow believer, our motive and goal must be to restore them, rather than to judge them or to abandon our relationship with them.

Now, please listen carefully.  I want you to ponder the following application questions:  

• Can you remember any times when you have struggled with a judgmental attitude toward another believer, pertaining to that believer’s attitudes and conduct which you felt were not biblical?  
• Will you allow God to use this parable to help you realize how easy it is to cut yourself off emotionally from such people, and to withdraw your spirit from a person?  

When we withdraw our spirit from a person, we have judged that person as a “weed” in our life, and have pulled them from our heart.  But judging that believer is not our responsibility – it is God’s responsibility.

Worse yet, we may realize that we are guilty of some of the same attitudes and conduct as that believer we are judging, but in subtly different ways.  God has led me to these convicting verses:

Romans 2:1 NASB  Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things.

Matthew 7:1-5 NASB  "Do not judge so that you will not be judged.  (2)  "For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.  (3)  "Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?  (4)  "Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye?  (5)  "You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye.

I also remember the old adage that says that whenever I point a finger at someone, I have 3 fingers pointing back at myself.

God then brought to mind what I call the Replacement Principle (based on 2 Timothy 2:22), which I mentioned briefly in a previous episode.  So, I am purposing that, whenever I begin to think judgmental thoughts about a believer, I will immediately replace those thoughts with my prayers of blessing, grace, mercy, and restoration for that believer.

Would you join me in the following prayer?

O God, thank You for revealing to me the hypocrisy of my sinful attitude.  In my judgmental attitude, I am ignoring Romans 2:1 -- that I “practice the same things.”  I am wrong in harboring that attitude.  Please forgive me.  Help me, Lord, to remember that I am not the weed puller in other people’s lives – You are.  And help me to use the Replacement Principle to replace those judgmental thoughts with prayers of blessing for my fellow believer.

Today, I encourage you to “Reflect on This.”