Who are you: Weed or Wheat?

     In every gathering of God’s people there are weeds, otherwise referred to as tares (Matt. 13: 24-30) in the Scripture. It makes all the difference for now and eternity which one you are. The great challenge is to liberate people from the category of weeds to the category of wheat.
    The Church of Jesus Christ is made up of Inside-Outsiders (weeds) and Inside-Insiders (those with real knowledge of personal salvation; wheat). The first is made up of people, who, by their nature are a danger to the corporate functioning and operation of the Church. They are weeds. Only two people have the prerogative of determining which group you are in – Jesus Christ and you.
     The Inside-Outsider and Inside-Insider often look alike, sound similar and both believe in Jesus Christ. Their relationship to Him as Lord, however, couldn’t be more dissimilar. What is the difference? One is an imitator and the other is in relationship with Christ by faith (Act 8:9-22). Inside-Outsiders have “neither part nor portion in Christ” (Acts 8:21).
     The Inside-Outsider is in the church but outside a deep, intimate relationship with Christ. He believes that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world but has never come to know Him as the Savior of his own soul and Lord of his life. There never has been a time of complete commitment of all he or she has and is-a commitment that allows one to experience the power of the Christian life in daily, specific surrender of the needs, challenges, problems and opportunities of life. The Inside-Outsider is inside the church, but outside of an intimate, impelling, indwelling experience of Christ as Lord.
     One of the most gratifying and puzzling phenomena of our time is the great number of church attendants who are discovering the joy and freedom of committing their lives to Christ. They are discovering the excitement of trusting Christ with their frustrations and fears. Recently a Church member realized the power of Christ and shared the delight of his experience with fellow members at the meeting. It was very disturbing to some when he said “I have been in the Assembly for many years. Last week I found out what it’s all about to be Christian. I’ve always believed that Christ was the Savior, but for the first time I know He’s my Savior.” He was saying that it was alarming to think of all the joy he’d missed by being an Inside-Outsider among God’s people. “Now I know Christ as the Lord of all my relationships and responsibilities.”
     The Church faces no more crucial issues today than how to make wheat out of the weeds in our midst. It’s never easy. This is because weeds think they have discovered all that is to be discovered in the Christian life, as they strive to achieve it. They are misfits because they want to do God’s work in their own strength. It won’t work.
     On the other hand, the wheat is the person who has truly embraced Christ and is in relationship with Him as Lord. Christ has taken charge as Lord. He no longer imitates the Christian life but allows Christ to be manifest in the flesh through his daily activities.
     Who are you: Weed or Wheat?