Weeds in the Church?
This Sunday I preached on several parables found in Matthew 13, dwelling a good bit on the parable of the weeds (hear sermon here). In that parable, Jesus’s primary message to his disciples is that the Kingdom of Heaven as it is found on earth will abide both the presence of the wicked and righteous. Such tolerance is exercised in order that God’s harvest of the righteous might be bountiful, extending until the final day of judgment when the two will be separated, the wicked being destroyed and the righteous entering into eternal life.
Jesus states clearly that the field is the world and in my sermon I treated the presence of ‘weeds’ primarily from the outlook of the continued presence of evil in the world as a whole. That said, some commentators have viewed this parable as primarily explaining the presence of evil in the Church. Because of Jesus’s rather clear statements, I disagree with that assessment. Nevertheless, it is true that the presence of weeds can and does extend into the Church, even if that is not the exclusive and primary meaning of the parable. As I referenced in my sermon, Paul has something to say concerning how the Church deals with sin of those inside the Church versus outside the Church:
[11] But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler--not even to eat with such a one. [12] For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? [13] God judges those outside. "Purge the evil person from among you."
- 1 Corinthians 5:11-13 [ESV, bolding mine]
It seems pretty clear cut: tolerate (but don’t approve of) sin outside of the Church; don’t tolerate sin within the Church. However, we can imagine situations that might complicate this clarity. As far as the Church goes, what does Paul mean by those who are guilty? What does he mean by an evil person? What does he mean by purge?
Paul doesn’t mean past guilt – he knows full well that Christians will join the Church with past sins, but that these are covered by Christ (see 1 Corinthians 6:9-11). When he refers to the guilty and evil persons, Paul means those who are presently engaged in sin, showing no repentance. We can gather this from a situation that occurred in the Corinthian church, recorded earlier in the chapter quoted above. A brother was engaged in a sexually immoral relationship and Paul instructed the Corinthian church to remove him from the fellowship of the church. We learn the meaning of purge based on Paul’s intended result: “[Y]ou are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.” [1Cor 5:5 ESV, bolding mine] Purging the evil person from the church is not only for the sake of the Church, but for the sake of the person so that they may be ultimately restored. In 2 Corinthians 6, Paul follows up on this situation. Having repented of his sin, Paul instructs the church to restore this brother to their fellowship and to comfort him. The example is clear: we should be tough on ongoing sin, but always with the aim of restoring sinful brothers and sisters.
When instructing the Christians in Ephesus to be vigilant against sin, Paul concludes by saying, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.” [Eph 4:32 ESV] We don’t tolerate sin, but we embrace rubbing shoulders with recovering sinners. We must drink deeply from the common cup of grace we have received in Christ.
Sin in the church is an inevitable reality – it’s part of the environmental hazards of living in this present world. The eternal outcome is that there will be no sin present in God’s Kingdom. As far for the Church today, do we try to remove the weeds, the wicked? Yes and no. Yes, because we don’t tolerate fellowship with those who call themselves believers but who are unrepentant, remorseless in their sin. No, because we never shut the door on someone being restored. When Christ returns with his angels, the wicked will be at their end – all opportunity for restoration will have concluded and only the fire will await. We certainly don’t do that today.
Also, there must be an exceedingly sharp distinction made between the unrepentant, remorseless person in the church and the brother or sister who commits sin and is ignorant of it or who is in turn remorseful. You can only be unrepentant and without remorse if you know you’ve sinned. Sometimes the only way a person will become aware of sin is if someone points it out, and that’s the responsibility of the local church family (and perhaps specifically you!). We certainly don’t weed someone out who is ignorant of their sin or who is repenting of their sin. The results would be clumsy, just as Jesus seems to suggest in the parable: ‘lest in gathering the weeds you root up the wheat along with them.’ [Mat 13:29 ESV]
At bottom, Jesus is calling us to share in his desire to see a bountiful harvest. If we discipline someone in the church, it’s because we want to see them harvested with the wheat. If we show grace to those who stumble in sin while following Christ, it’s because we need that same grace and, again, because we want to see them harvested with the wheat. We want as many to be saved as possible. This is the present design of God’s Kingdom; we dare not reap before His command.
Rev. Tom Loghry
Tom Loghry is the senior pastor of Rockland Community Church in North, Scituate, RI. He is a graduate of the Berkshire Institute for Christian Studies, Toccoa Falls College (B.S. Pastoral Ministry), and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (M.A. Theology). He is continuing his graduate studies in the area of “Ethics & Society” at GCTS.
Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.