The parable of the weeds II
by Gary Oyer, Hesston, Kan.
Dave Miller (“The Parable of the Weeds,” Aug. 21) gives the often-heard argument that the parable (Matthew 13:24-30) means we are not to make judgments in the church. He doesn’t mention what Jesus says the field in the story is. The field in which we are not to pull out the weeds is the world (v. 38), not the church. Christians should not go around trying to pull up all the “weeds” in the world; God alone will decide who will be thrown into the “fiery furnace.”
When Jesus says, “Judge not” in Matthew 7, he is saying, Don’t judge hypocritically or judgmentally. In Matthew 18, Jesus gives strong commands on how we are to judge or discern between good or bad behavior in the body of believers. In 1 Corinthians 5:12-13, Paul writes: “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church?
Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. Expel the wicked man from among you.”
The Mennonite church has judged too harshly on trivial things in the past, and that was wrong. But that doesn’t mean that today we should be a church where we just say, Oh well, whatever you want, who am I to judge. That is not true community.
Associated Issue: Church or family first? - Aug. 21, 2007
Associated Article: The parable of the weeds
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