Quote from Forum Archives on September 1, 2005, 3:47 pm

Posted by: bhfbc <bhfbc@...>

TAKING CARE OF THE GARDEN
August 28, 2005
Text: Matthew 7:15-23

When it came time to think about planting the garden this year, Lois told
me that if we are going to have one, I was going to have to tend it. Oh.
OK. Although it’s not my favorite pastime, I do not entirely dislike
working in the garden. It has its therapeutic value. My biggest reason
for not being an avid gardener has more to do with ignorance than
anything else. My ignorance, mind you. When the seeds are first planted
and begin coming up, I can’t tell the difference between the new plants
and the weeds that start to appear. Believe me, pulling up a plant
instead of a weed is the wrong thing to do. After there’s a little growth
- actually, after the plants begin to bear - then I can tell the
difference and can pull the right things out of the ground. So, with the
agreement that she would mark the rows and plants real well and supervise
me in the early stages, Lois and I planted our garden. Tomatoes, anyone?

Everyone knows what happens to a garden that is not cared for. The good
plants falter and wither; the weeds flourish and overrun the entire
garden. If a market for weeds should ever develop, we’ll all have
successful businesses. Even though the garden has to be cared for, it has
to be done carefully, or the plants we want to grow will be harmed or
even destroyed by the gardener.

Jesus used references to gardens and agriculture to illustrate his
meaning on several occasions. He does so here in Matthew 7:16-20. “By
their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from
thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise every good tree bears good
fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit,
and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good
fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will
recognize them.” Jesus wants us to take care of his garden.

Now it would seem that this is straightforward enough, and that we can
follow Jesus’ instruction without difficulty. Unfortunately, it is not
quite that simple. Just a few verses prior to these, still in chapter
7:1-2, Jesus teaches, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in
the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure
you use, it will be measured to you.” Then Jesus uses the famous
speck-of-sawdust and plank-in-the-eye illustration. Of course, we want to
be obedient to this instruction, too, so how do we manage to do both?

Admittedly, we must discern and walk a fine line here. Exhibiting
judgementalism is not be a Christian characteristic. It damages our
witness and could turn someone away from making a salvation commitment.
Although we know that we cannot allow the weeds to overrun the garden, it
does none of us any good to pull up a good plant. In fact, Jesus used
another agricultural illustration saying just that, which is found in
Matthew 13:24-30. In the parable of the tares, or weeds, Jesus sets up
the story by telling of an enemy who came along and sowed weeds among the
good wheat. The farmer recognized that an enemy did this. “The servants
asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’ ‘No,’ he answered,
’because while you’re pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with
them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell
the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be
burned, then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’” See, I can
relate well to this parable.

Still, Jesus warns us to “Watch out for false prophets.” Just because we
are not to judge, or pull up the good wheat along with the weeds, it does
not mean that we are supposed to allow the weeds to overrun the garden.
In his treatment of these verses, William Barclay writes, “The Jews, the
Greeks and the Romans all used the idea that a tree is to be judged by
its fruits. ‘Like root, like fruit,’ ran the proverb. Epictetus was later
to say, ‘How can a vine grow not like a vine but like an olive, or, how
can an olive grow not like an olive but like a vine’ (Epictetus,
Discourses 2:20). Seneca declared that good cannot grow from evil any
more than a fig tree can from an olive. But there is more in this than
meets the eye. ‘Are grapes gathered from thorns?’ asked Jesus. There was
a certain thorn, the buckthorn, which had little black berries which
closely resembled little grapes. ‘Or figs from thistles?’ There was a
certain thistle, which had a flower, which, at least at a distance, might
well be taken for a fig. The point is real, and relevant, and salutary.
There may be a superficial resemblance between the true and the false
prophet. The false prophet may wear the right clothes and use the right
language; but you cannot sustain life with the berries of a buckthorn or
the flowers of a thistle; and the life of the soul can never be sustained
with the food which a false prophet offers. The real test of any teaching
is: Does it strengthen a man to bear the burdens of life, and to walk in
the way wherein he ought to go?” (William Barclay, “The Gospel of
Matthew,” The Daily Study Bible, Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John
Knox Press, Revised Edition, 1975, Ligouri Faith ware “The Bible Library
for Catholics,“ CD-ROM)

So how do we get at weeding the garden? Our first line of defense, our
herbicide so to speak, is the Scripture itself. Those claiming to speak
for God will not contradict the revelation He has already given. There
have been many leaders who have arisen in the history of Christianity who
have attempted to replace the testimony of Jesus with a self-made
revelation. Some even point to themselves as somehow being the
fulfillment of God’s prophecies. Such claims are patently false. Jesus
alone fulfills the prophecies.

There are those who indicate that the Spirit of God speaks to them. While
we believe that God speaks to us, again, it is important to recognize
that God’s revelation today will not contradict the revelation of His
inspired Word. For example, I have heard some who reject the reality of
the virgin birth say that Paul was silent on it. Similarly, those who
seek support for the acceptance of homosexual behavior claim that Jesus
was silent on that. That is what I mean. If a teaching clearly
contradicts the Scriptures, then the teacher is a false prophet. That
does not mean that there is no room for differences in interpretation and
application of Scripture. There are differences among the early Churches
described in Acts that do not violate the instruction or integrity of
God’s Word. Rather, it is when a person insists that his or her
inspiration or statement of belief outright conflicts with the Word of
God that a false prophet can be recognized.

As Jesus taught, the false prophet can be recognized by the fruit that is
born. This can be difficult sometimes because even the false prophets can
oftentimes point to good they have done. Jesus tells us this: “Many will
say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and
in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’” Obviously, we
are not going to have any problems being deceived by someone expressing
hatred toward Jesus. It’s those who sound Christian who make it
difficult. During their high profile ministry, Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker,
taught and did acts of ministry that attracted many believers.
Eventually, though, they were exposed as deceivers. They took advantage
of the resources entrusted to them and used them for their personal gain.
Just last week, Pat Robertson made a statement on his television program
that clearly contradicts the revelation of Christ. His comment about
assassinating the president of Venezuela, Hugo Chavez, came as a surprise
to every Christian I have heard or read commenting on it. As much as I
respect the ministries he has done in Christ’s name over the years, he
runs a serious risk of not producing Christian fruit if he continues down
such a path.

The point that Jesus makes is that there are weeds in the garden and
wolves among the sheep. It is our responsibility as Christians,
especially leadership in each church, to “watch out for false prophets.”
This is not the same as judging others. I believe that judging others
does not refer to those who are actively trying to deceive Christ’s
flock. There is a difference between committing a sin, which needs to be
confronted with love, and trying to deceive others for some type of
personal gain. Clearly, attempts to deceive others will eventually show
up for the bad fruit that it is.

The best way to keep from succumbing to the false prophets is to maintain
our spiritual growth and attend to our spiritual disciplines. It’s hard
to identify a false teaching when we do not know what the true teaching
is supposed to be. In spite of my poor ability to identify weed from
plant in the early stages of growth, it is obvious that identification
skills can be developed with practice. So, too, can our identification
skills between false teaching and truthful teaching grow as we continue
to learn from our Master and Savior. “Thus by their fruit you will
recognize them.”

Rev. Charles A. Layne, pastor, First Baptist Church, Bunker Hill, IN