When Wheat and Weeds Grow Together

Walking through a wheat field gave me additional perspective on some things Jesus said. Somewhere not far from where he preached the Sermon on the Mount, we stood among the vibrant green stalks on a beautiful spring day in the hills that gently rise above the Sea of Galilee. The farmer who tended this field had obviously worked hard to ensure it produced only wheat. The weeds we saw were gathered at the side of the field. These were the thistles Jesus talked about (Matt. 7:16), hearty, fibrous plants that almost looked like they were peering into the field of wheat, plotting their attack. If the weeds invaded the field, it would make a real mess for the farmer.

Maybe that same hillside field was filled with weeds when Jesus walked nearby, all those years ago. Maybe he knew farmers who spent a lot of their time trying to deal with weeds in their fields, and that was why he chose the image as the basis of one of his parables (Matt. 13). In his illustration, Jesus talks about the kingdom of God as a wheat field intended to grow food that would nourish people and offer life. Some enemy comes at night and throws a bunch of weed seeds into the field, potentially ruining the crop. The workers ask the farmer if they should get busy pulling the weeds, and he tells them instead to wait until the harvest, then the weeds will be gathered up and burned while the wheat goes to the storehouses, where it will wait to offer nourishment and life. Weeds in a wheat field, we know, aren’t good for nourishment, but the kingdom of God is all about the flourishing of life.

When Jesus indulges the disciples’ request to explain the parable (Matt. 13:36-43), he tells them that the weeds are the things that cause sin and those who do evil (13:41). In other words, it’s the stuff that is getting in the way of the life and nourishment that describes God’s kingdom. As Jesus extends the metaphor, the eschatological implications come into focus: there are causes and people who are working against flourishing, and those will be dealt with eventually, leaving only the nourishing goodness of the kingdom.

But what do we do in the meantime? There are still weeds in the field!

Jesus’s parable has me thinking about a lot of questions I hear from friends who are asking serious questions about things like the nature of the church. It should be a wheat field, shouldn’t it? Why do the headlines in our newsfeeds sometimes feel like a litany of announcements that there are weeds in the church? If there are weeds in the field, is that a place to devote our life’s work? (I often remind students that the church isn't the kingdom. It points to and participates in it, but there are weeds in the church's field.)

I get a bit protective of my students who are preparing for ministry. I want them to only go to weed-free, wheatfield churches. This parable reminds me that there will be weeds in every wheatfield, and I need to prepare students accordingly, helping them remember that the wheat is really good and not to expect any weed-free congregations. Wheat and weeds grow together.

I’m also thinking about any other organization I’ve ever worked in and how none of them have been a field of only weeds, and none of them have been a field of only wheat. Every organization likely has weeds and wheat growing together, and in my case, that reminder helps temper my expectations. Even if I were the one making all the decisions for the organization, there would still be weeds growing in the wheatfield.

Finally, I’m thinking about my impulse to want to pull a bunch of weeds. When I look around, I can see causes and people who seem to be working only against the goodness and flourishing God is bringing. The workers’ impulse is my impulse: Let’s go pull some weeds. But Jesus’s response is challenging me, especially around this warning: “While you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them” (Matt 13:29).

Are there weeds in the world God loves? Yes. Is my impulse to get out there and do some weeding? It often is, yes. Here, then, is the good news for me and maybe it is for you, too: The weeds are a problem, and they’ll be dealt with, but overzealous weeding risks killing the wheat. In fact, when I think of the times and places where overzealous weeding has taken place, the wheat hasn’t fared well. The result isn’t usually a pristine wheatfield, but a ragged collection of a few stalks that are barely holding on.

Like most of Jesus’s parables, this one makes me uncomfortable. I would prefer not to wait, and to take the weeding into my own hands. This parable helps me to slow down and trust that these not-good-for-life weeds aren’t going to choke out the wheat. At the same time, I don’t think Jesus is telling us to throw up our hands and prepare to eat weed salad for the rest of our lives. Farmers still need to tend to their fields and steward them well, but good farmers know that when you go after the weeds, you risk killing the wheat. The wheat, though, is the gift that nourishes, the seeds sown by the God who loves this creation. (Post adapted from a sermon/discussion you can watch here.)