How to handle a tare...
I
don't know why we expect people to be perfect. Nobody is and only Jesus ever
was. As for me, I'm just a sinner saved by grace; I don't take said grace to be
an opportunity for license, but I also understand that when I fail, it does not
mean that God does not love me anymore. We, the church, are fallible people; we
are broken, weak and needy.
That
being said, there's a vast difference between a weak saint and a well tare. Of
tares and wheat existing together, Jesus said, "Let both grow together
until the harvest. Then I will tell the harvesters to sort out the weeds, tie
them into bundles, and burn them, and to put the wheat in the barn."
(Matthew 13:30 NLT) Tares are not wheat! How will you know the difference?
Wheat grows up and produces wheat grain (fruit); tares grow up and produce
not-wheat, which is to say a different fruit. But, notice what Jesus says to do
with tares; leave them alone until the harvest.
What
do we do with tares in our midst? We have to deal with them. Most every
gathering of believers has tares. Ideally, we'd like to see tares saved and
transformed by the power of God from tares into wheat. Sadly, some folk never
experience that transformation, but they stay in the midst of God's wheat
fields (local churches).
The
Apostle John and a brother named Gaius dealt with a situation like this and we
have the record in 3 John: "I have written something to the church, but
Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our
authority." (3 John 1:9 ESV) See that, beloved? One way to recognize a
tare is they like to put themselves first, rather than putting Jesus first and
others before themselves.
How
did John and Gaius plan to deal with it? Head on. John said, "So if I
come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And
not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those
who want to and puts them out of the church." (3 John 1:10 ESV) WOW! John
simply plans to point out the behavior! He doesn't demand they leave, and John
does not recommend anyone act spitefully towards Diotrephes. I think John is
telling Gaius to take Jesus at His word and leave the tare alone and wait for
God to move. Now, it's fair to say, at some point, you might have to cease fellowship
with a tare, especially one who causes division, but, still, there's
instruction on that, too. To Titus, Paul wrote, "As for a person who stirs
up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do
with him, knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is
self-condemned." (Titus 3:10-11 ESV) That still leaves us in the position
to wait for God to move.
How
do we live until God moves? John continues, saying, "Beloved, do not
imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil
has not seen God." (3 John 1:11 ESV) YOU keep on doing the right thing.
YOU keep on living right.
Love
the tare...
Pray
for the tare...
Keep
your testimony...
Live
for God...
Face
the tare, but love the tare...
Point
out wrong, but keep doing right...
Trust
GOD to bring resolution!
Do
right until HE does!
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