The Lack of true knowledge of the composition of the church has made both believers and unbelievers alike make a grievous mistake about the church. Some if not most Christians spend their time and whole lives trying to make the church what it’s never meant to be by doing what they do not have the right or power to do. The unbelievers in their ignorance too, smear and call the church all sorts of names because it does not live up to their preconceived idea about the church. To say head-on, the unbelievers narrowly understand the church to be a social and charity agent, and when the church falls short of that they think otherwise about the church. This secular perception of the church is what led to the development of social gospel in the 20th century as a response to the industrial crisis and has subsequently brought about progressive Christianity in the 21st century. It is necessary to have a good knowledge of the church to have a balanced Christian life. Christ Jesus Himself has given us a clear explanation of what the church is truly meant to consist of on earth in the parable of the Wheat and Weeds (tares) in Matthew 13:24-29, 36-43.
The Composition of the Church
An average Christian presumes that the church is an assembly of only the saints or holy people. Evil and vile conduct are therefore never expected in the church setting. People are, therefore, often taken aback any time something evil happens in church. This, however, is a false, naïve, and simply an ideal knowledge of the church that is disastrous to the stability of Christian faith and the survival of the church. Contrary to this false assumption about the church, Jesus teaches us that the church on earth consists of the children of God and the agents of Satan, the righteous and the unrighteous, the kind and the wicked. It is never a surprise to God that all sorts of unimaginable evil are sometimes found in the church. And it should never surprise us too because the church is not only a place for the righteous. Such position of the church will only be at the coming of Christ “when the wicked will be weed up and burn up in the furnace of fire and then the righteous will shine like the sun the kingdom of their Father (Matthew 13:40-43a).”
The Source of the Evil Ones in the Church
Satan is the primary source evil activities in the church. Jesus says in the parable in verse 25, as I paraphrase, they are neither chosen by God nor do they choose themselves but Satan. I believe that in every local church, Christian group, or body, Satan will always have a representative. In Nigeria, it is often fondly put this way, “in every twelve there must be a Judah.” This is a great lesson for us, especially Christian leaders. Sometimes we weary and endanger ourselves because of some so-called Christians who misbehave in the church. It’s necessary to know that not everyone we minister to is of God, some are of the devil and they are about his business. Caution and wisdom need to be applied or else we could be victimized by these people as we fall and wreck our Christian life. It’s important to also note that, while it is our responsibility to minister, we do not have the power to mend hearts only the Holy Spirit can do that. We should know our limits.
The Use of Wheat and Tare in the Parable
I believe the choice of a tare plant by Jesus, according to the King James Version, as a type of weed that Satan planted on the field of wheat in the parable is deliberate. Wheat and tare are identical plants. That is why the master of the field in the parable warns his servant that they will end up uprooting the wheat with the tare if they attempt to weed off the tare, verses 27-30. This means that Satan’s agents are identical to genuine Christians. They use religion to hypocritically fake Christianity. Due to human limitations, often, any time a church attempts to separate some individuals in a bid to protect the church from their corruptible lifestyle, we make mistakes and eventually do more harm than good. Some other times, these elements could woo the sympathy of the unsuspected immature Christians and mislead them. The fruit and proceed are what usually differentiate the wheat from the tare. When wheat plants yield fruit, the head is bent over to the ground because of the weight of the fruit. While the tare remained with its head erect because of a lack of produce.
Similarly, true fruit that exudes from a transformed heart is the real mark that identifies a true Christian from a false fellow and a simple not religious activity. While Religious activities can be faked, a godly circumcised heart cannot. These days, people get trained to act and live as Christians. But that cannot make one a Christian except the conversion of the heart. while a true Christian can stand the test of the time, he or she has no choice because of the new nature in Christ, a false Christian will keep on manifesting the real nature of his heart by and large. These are the group of apostates, the rebellious ones that will eventually fall away from the truth, betray the true believers by manifesting in the open where they have truly belonged all along, and will be caught and thrown into the lake of fire.
The Work of Satan’s Agents in the Church
Jesus states their works this way. The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. Vs41. It is quite disheartening and sad how the contemporary church has treated sin and the agents of Satan in her midst. One would wonder where the church has learned the principles and policies of embracing sinners. Certainly not from the Bible! The Old Testament prophets are known for their intolerance to sin and their hard rebuke of the kings princes and princesses who were idolatrous and wicked. Jesus did not fit into the religious council of the High Priest, the religious sects of the Pharisees, and the political Sadducees because of the corruption of their hearts and hypocritical religious lifestyle. The apostles, point out to the churches in the epistles people who were dangerous to the church and mandate the church always to refute and be cautious of such. It was always the duty of the apostolic church to stand against compromise to sin in the church. Finally, Christ in His warning to some churches in Asia Minor warns about the danger of tolerating evil men.
Conversely, the contemporary church in her indiscernible conduct has come to the point of celebrating evil and elevating evil men in the church to leadership positions. What could be the place of a tare plant on the same field with the wheat other than to make growth difficult for the wheat? But what happens when the wheat naively considers a tare as a fellow wheat of course, its growth will be hampered by distraction and deception. And this is exactly what the assignment of evil elements in the church is. The church must guard against the trend of evil.
The Desire of God’s Children
The desire and prayer of most Christians is for God to get rid of wicked elements in the church so that the church can be a serene place. Unfortunately, some have even built their Christian life around freeing the church completely from these evil people. Their teaching and prayer are battle-oriented, centered around pulling up the weeds in the church. Similarly, this was the quarry of the servant to the master of the field in parable 13:28: The response of the master is that let them grow together until the time of the harvest. We do not have the ultimate right and the power to pull up these people from the church. This does not mean that the leadership of the church does not have the authority to excommunicate certain endangered fellows from the church. what it rather means is that the church or individual Christian should not be overly concerned about such individuals and their activities such that they become a hindrance or distraction to the growth of the church. This as a whole implies that it requires patience, long-suffering, and divine wisdom to be a Christian. Personally, nothing makes the Christian faith a more difficult journey than this reality, putting up with difficult people.