Pluck Them All Out... Now!

One popular reason why people don’t believe in God is because of the evil that is evident in the world. People ask: If God is real, why are there so many wicked people walking around freely?

The Parable Of The Wheat And The Tares gives a good explanation. The parable goes like this: A man sowed good seed in his field. An enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat. When the grain produced a crop, the tares appeared also. The servants asked if they should pull out the tares. But the master said:

“No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, ‘First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn.’ ” (Matthew 13:24-30)

Such is the world that we live in today. People who do good, and people who practice lawlessness live together in this world. Because society is inter-dependent on one another, “pulling out” all the wicked people at once from the face of the earth will have a serious repercussion on the world’s affairs. The world, which is already not in a very good condition – politically, economically, socially, and morally – hangs on a very delicate balance that still makes the world a livable place to be in.

Zapping away all the unrighteous people indiscriminately will greatly affect the course of this world. People who are morally deviant may still be the main players in the world today. They are the rich ones, the powerful ones, the ones that influence the world’s course of history. Suddenly uprooting all of them and getting rid them will alter the world’s game at too high a cost – at the cost of those who seek to live righteously as well.

The message of this parable is clear. God allows the righteous and the unrighteous to coexist together for now. They are temporarily inseparable, because “lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them.” Although God permits godless and morally deviant people to have their time of day for now, it doesn’t mean that God condones their actions. The “time of harvest” will come when all mankind will be judged before God. During that day, the tares will be “bound and burnt in the fire”, while the wheat will be “gathered into the barn.” The ultimate day of reckoning will come for everyone. But that day has not yet come.

What is our attitude about this matter? It is hard to live a life with godly standards. It is often easier to live with the world’s standards, where morality is a relative matter. It is true that “nice guys finish last”. But well… At least that happens only in this world, not in the world to come.

It is also easy to develop a hateful attitude towards the lawless and the unrighteous. We can choose to think that they have done us wrong, and blame them as the cause of every mess in this world. Either that, or we can adopt God’s attitude of graciousness. God, in His grace and mercy, still “makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:45) God lets His blessings overflow to the good, and also to the evil. Thus also, shall we view our enemies. After all, without God’s grace, we are no better than the wicked. All the more, the wicked have a greater need for the grace of God.

It is hard to live in this world, isn’t it? You have to coexist with people who make your life difficult. And yet, you have to love them with the love of God. Can’t live with them, can’t live without them.