Dobermans for the Lord
Jesus once told a parable about wheat and tares (Matthew 13:24-30). In a certain field, there were those who were sowing wheat while others sowed tares. Wheat is a desired crop and tares are basically just weeds. The kingdom of heaven is the field. The differing seeds represent good and bad doctrine. The harvest is judgment. The reapers are the angels of heaven who will be with Christ at His coming and will help to separate the saved and the lost.
The question of the parable is should the laborers (faithful Christians today who are sowing good seed) pull out the tares that have been sown among the wheat? Jesus said, “No.” We are just supposed to sow the good seed. We are not to spend all of our time pulling up tares, for in so doing some of the wheat will be lost as well. We are to let the seeds come to maturity. At harvest time the wheat will be gathered and the tares will be gathered. The good crop will be saved and the bad crop will be burned.
Years ago my father-in-law coined a phrase to describe Christian people who tend to exert a lot of energy pulling up tares. He called them, “Dobermans for the Lord.” These folks love to spend their time examining different seeds and those who sow them. They write the majority of the articles in their bulletins about tares. They preach sermon after sermon about tares. They even try to get involved in fields where they aren’t working so as to remove the tares from such fields. In the meantime, they are not sowing any wheat. In the meantime, in the midst of their violent tare removal, way too much of the wheat is being destroyed.
While it is the duty of every Christian to discern between what is true and false and to even expose and reprove false teachings and those who teach them, it was never Christ’s intention to turn seed sowing into weed pulling. The seed is the Word of God (Luke 8:11). The gospel is good news, and in this world of darkness, it so desperately needs to be sown. You will always have those who want to, and who most certainly will, sow tares. But God owns the field. He is going to take care of the tares in His own time. He is the Master Reaper and He alone weighs and judges the hearts.
The message of Christ and the power of the cross are too wonderful and exciting and life changing to be set aside even for a moment. I don’t want to spend all my time judging and discerning and weed pulling. I know what the tares look like. I know about the people who sow them. I am determined not to be one of them. I am also determined not to worry so much about them that I forget what I came into the field to do in the first place.
I want to sow good seed. I want to celebrate the harvest. I want to bring that harvest to the Master. I have no desire to be a Doberman. I would much rather be a golden retriever.
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.” – Gal. 6:7.
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