Weeds and Wheat

Disclaimer: If you believe in an easy, rose coloured Christian life, and want to remain in that beautiful bubble filled with gumdrops and unicorns please do not continue reading this post, because this post is going to talk about real life.

Let me just start by saying being a Christian is hard: in any country, in any circumstance. I’m selfish, I want what’s best for me, I want what benefits me, I want to feel appreciated for what I do, I want to feel valued and honoured.

I’m a sinner who gets up every morning and tries hard to pull off my earthly desires and put on Christ. I’m successful, sometimes, but often I try to put Christ on, on top of my earthly desires. That doesn’t work out very well. It makes for complicated Christianity.

I am currently reading the book Interrupted: When Jesus Wrecks Your Comfortable Christianity by Jen Hatmaker

Yesterday morning I read this passage before I went out into the world harvest field.

When Jesus’ followers asked what to do about the weeds in the harvest field, He said to treat them the same as the wheat, “because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them” (Matthew 13:29). There was one Judas, but eleven disciples who were forever transformed by Jesus’ broken body. The risk of encountering a few weeds is not sufficient reason to avoid the whole field of human suffering, because I assure you, identifying with the wheat but not the weeds is a gross overestimation of our own station. The correct character to identify with here is the weed shown mercy, not the Savior capable of discerning the human heart.  Our holy Saviour advised us well: humans must treat the wheat and weeds the same. We are only qualified to administer mercy, not judgment, because we will pull up many a beautiful stalk of wheat, imagining him a weed.

Here comes the boom – are you ready for it? Helping people is complicated, so extremely complicated. For every awesome step forward you take you get a very hard shove back. Community development is messy, you can never seem to please everyone and the voices of those who are displeased seem to be so much louder than those who are. Living between two worlds (plenty and need) is confusing and frustrating for both sides, it never seems fair.

Queue the whiny voice in your mind before you read the following sentence:

I give, and I give, and I give and I give and guess what? People don’t always say, “Thank you.” Sometimes they say, “That’s it?!”

I experienced this yesterday. In the midst of joy and happiness a, “That’s it?!” statement almost took the wind out of my sails. In that moment I did not treat whom I saw as a weed, as wheat. Not even a little. I judged harshly, was frustrated, discouraged and quite frankly I was angry. I decided they were a weed and I was ready to rip them out of the harvest field.

Sometimes I just want to grab people by their shoulders and shake them until my thoughts become their thoughts, because I assume my thoughts are right, and just and dare I say Godly. [Lord help us!] I want to force them to be thankful, I want to force them to be grateful. It’s exhausting to never do enough, to never give enough, to never be enough.

One thing I have learned, which I did not apply in the moment of my frustration yesterday, is this. I don’t know what’s it like to be hungry, I don’t know what it’s like to be homeless, I don’t know what it’s like to not be able to feed my children. When I try to put myself in their shoes I realize I would do ANYTHING, I would fight, I would steal, I would beg. Does that make me a weed? I don’t think so. So who I am to call them a weed?

So here's what I take away from this. God has called us to a purpose. Some of us have very specific calls, some more general, but whatever your call you are going to eventually run into a few people you feel are weeds in your beautiful garden. People will look down on you, people will be selfish, people will take and take and take and then take some more. People will toss you aside when they've used you and that's ok. Really, it's ok. Don't let a few weeds uproot the wheat. We are called to love UNCONDITIONALLY. That means when people are selfish, you love them. When people hurt you, you love them. When people use you, you love them. When you give and give and give and they say, "That's it?!" You LOVE them anyway. It's why we are here. It's what we're called to do. 

Is it easy? Nope. 

But the risk of encountering a few weeds is not sufficient reason to avoid the whole field of human suffering.

I’m a sinner who gets up every morning and tries hard to pull off my earthly desires and put on Christ because with Christ I can do anything, and everything even encounter a few potential weeds without it ruining my heart and desire to serve. 

Peace, love and wheat weeds,

Rachel