“The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;” (Matthew 13:38)
I researched this parable and found that, in the early church, they used it to justify purging the church of sinners. Back in the bible days, they were hard on the “sinner.” They often never had a chance to repent. When you think about it, is there anyone who has never sinned, not even once, not even a tiny one? Sinning is anything we do or say or think that separates us from God, when we are not expressing His likeness. I know that I have sinned, and to think that I would have been thrown out of the church before I had a chance to repent would have been awful.
Who needs church more than the sinner? No one! I needed church to help me see the tares so I could overcome them. I was leaning that a church is not necessarily a building. Church can be found in anything that inspires my thought, leads me to understand my spiritual identity, and gives me the desire to know God, to reflect his qualities. The structure of Truth and Love is the foundation upon which to build my life. That is my demonstration to make.
I like this definition of Church from Science and Health: “The structure of Truth and Love; whatever rests upon and proceeds from divine Principle. The Church is that institution, which affords proof of its utility and is found elevating the race, rousing the dormant understanding from material beliefs to the apprehension of spiritual ideas and the demonstration of divine Science, thereby casting out devils, or error, and healing the sick.”
I love the parable of the Tares and Wheat. It helped me see that I was not responsible, for the tares planted in my consciousness as a result of child abuse. I believed that all the negative characteristics I grew up with were my fault. I was the blame for everything and could do nothing right. Later as I matured, I learned I was responsible for letting the tares rule my life. This parable explained what happened and how to fix it; Matthew 13:24-30.
24 “Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:” The kingdom of heaven is God’s creation, and He sewed only the wheat, the Good seed.
25 “But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.” In my case, that enemy was my father. Instead of nurturing the good seed, he planted the tares and taught me that I was no good; I was ignorant, unattractive, worthless, and would never amount to anything. Those are the tares, the misconceptions of who I was.
26 “But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.” As a young adult, the tares planted in my youth began to appear in my life. I was acting out based on mistaken beliefs about who I was.
27 “So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?” God created only the wheat, and He can see only his spiritual creation, where there are no tears, but here in the material world, they can be seen and must be destroyed.
28 “He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?” For me, that enemy was my abuser, the red dragon, that old serpent who came along and lied to me about who I was, and as a child, I believed those lies. But, it was not time yet to separate the tares from the wheat.
29 “But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.” I had to mature. The tares had to be clearly recognizable, so the wheat would not get damaged. Of course, nothing can ever damage God’s child. Still, humanly it is possible to confuse the two and damage my already vulnerable self-image.
30 “Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.” It was time for the harvest when I had grown in my spiritual understanding and recognized the tares for what they were, worthless and unreal. They are not a part of God’s creation and not a part of me. Then was the time to gather the tares and burn them. The tares, my mistaken beliefs about who I was, are the only things that go to hell, but not me. The wheat had always been safe in God’s barn. Without all the tares, I can see who I am, God’s child, and express His qualities.
This parable is so important as it clearly showed me that I did not plant the tares. They come from everything that happened from the time I was born until I matured. But as an adult, I learned I needed to take responsibility for getting rid of those tares, they were now my problem, and I had to bundle them up and throw them into the fire. I was always the child of God, His image and likeness, and when I reflect his qualities only, the tares cannot survive.
“The seed of Truth and the seed of error, of belief and of understanding, — yea, the seed of Spirit and the seed of matter, — are the wheat and tares which time will separate, the one to be burned, the other to be garnered into heavenly places.” Science & Health Get busy and burn those tares; they don’t belong to you. You are a spiritual idea, the reflection of God, always have been and always will be; no matter what appears to happen here, it doesn’t change who you truly are, God’s wheat, the Good Seed.
Out of Darkness, Into the Light 