The Wheat and the Weed (eBook)

Jesus’ War against the Weed

Jesus died for our sin but the religious killed Him.

Since the start of Jesus’ ministry, in His lifestyle and most of His teaching, He was always at war with religiosity. Let’s consider some of those wars as recorded in Matthew. But before we do, I want you to know that I have no intention of explaining all that Jesus implies by His teachings; His teachings are mysteries that no one can fully understand, for when you think you have something, He gives you another meaning and sphere of application. All I wish to achieve is to show His war against religion.

I also want you to read the passages as we proceed in this exposition.

Jesus understood hierarchy in life and ministry (Matthew 3:13-17).

He went to be mentored and ordained by someone older in the ministry. That is relational and that shows an understanding that some people have gone before you. And that is good as long as it is true mentorship, and not ownership. However, religiosity makes people disregard hierarchy in life generally or converts mentorship to ownership. Since religion is an apparent life, it holds pride high and seems to ignore others especially whenever it seems like one’s area of calling is better than that of others or when the higher or lower or both are struggling with insecurities.

Managing temptation (Matthew 4:1-11).

Jesus was led to the wilderness to be tempted. How so un-religious?! Religion says “flee every temptation.” Relationship says, “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” Joseph, our ‘religious’ model, fled from Portipher’s wife because that was the best way to manage that ‘temptation’. Temptation is what religion called what Potipher’s wife did on that day. No, she had been tempting Joseph but he did not fall for it so she resulted into harassment. Joseph fled harassment from his superior.

Running away from or avoiding a temptation is not always the best way to manage temptations. Well, nobody can run away from them because they are all over and as long as a person still feels, sees and has a brain, there is no escape from temptation to “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16). However, a temptation once overcome has lost the chance to gain mastery over the person that overcomes it. A person that gets married because he/she could not control his/her sexuality will remain unbridled sexually until he/she learns to take control over his/her body.

How will you rule over your sexual urges if you keep avoiding opposite sex? Or how will you stop lying if you are mute? A battle lasts for as long as victory has not been won. Jesus understood that “No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” Though He prayed not to be led into temptation, yet He believed God for victory over temptations.

Individualism (Matthew 4:18-22)

Religiosity makes people to do things for themselves and themselves alone. The religious do things to, for or with people in order to get some credit from a higher power. Relational people, however, relate to achieve a goal that is beyond credits from a higher power. Jesus, though He is God, called and acknowledged the people in His life that helped Him in the ministry.

Light and Salt of the world (Matthew 5:13-16)

Jesus teaches that His disciples – true followers are the sweetening effect of the world as well as the beautifier of all things. But how can salt sweeten a meal if it is not added to the meal? Religion says, “Stare clear the world” but the relational God says “you are the salt of the world”. This means we are to stand out and affect our world positively.

“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

What Jesus was saying here is that we should leave mediocrity – light getting lost among light, salt getting lost among salt and potentials wasting away while those that need us suffer the more as they also get lost in more darkness.

Make it your goal to live a quiet life, minding your own business and working with your hands, just as we instructed you before. (1 Thessalonians 4:11)

This passage is one that has been interpreted differently and many times wrongly. It’s wrong interpretations have made many to be without ambition and lazy. And that is not the intention of Paul who was himself ambitious and diligent.

Paul advised the Thessalonians to live a quiet life. What was he saying? To live a quiet life you must stay away from the crowd. And where is the crowd? The crowd is down the stream, the crowd is in the valley because that is the place that can contain the crowd. Crowd is not coordinated and so makes noise. To stay away from the crown you have to stop reciting “row, row, row your boat gently down the stream” because you don’t need any rowing down the stream, your speed of movement is predetermined by the downstream speed of the water. And start to row your boat up the stream where there is no crowd and there is no noise. Row it up to the mountaintop where your light can be seen. That is where you can live a quiet life. Standing out for greater works and exploits is the beginning of living a quiet life.

Put in another way, a man of vision is a man that has determined to live a quiet life for without vision people perish. This is because without vision, every way becomes a way, every advice you’ll want to follow, every leader is your leader, and every word is your word. Without vision there is no focus and there is no plan, there may be work but there is no expected end. You can do all things yet do nothing since there is no vision.

Paul advised the people not to meddle in other’s business. He wasn’t saying that we cannot or should not help one another or be involved with others, but that we should not be carried away by other’s business and be lacking in our God given purpose. Our diversions must not become distraction. The Prophet’s analogy in 1 Kings 20:35-43 shows that there is a job that God commits into everyone’s hands and it is only fulfilled when we are not lost in other businesses. God wants us to stay focus because when you are focused you are clearheaded and goal oriented.

Then he advised people to put their hands to productive work. Paul understood that without diligence in accordance with vision there is no quiet live.

The life that God gives is one that stands out and by getting lost in the multitude is to be unfulfilled, whether partially or fully. Come out from among them and pursue your vision with diligence.

STOP DUPLICATING OTHERS.

Imagine if God had called every Christian to be a pastor, then the concept of division of labor will be proven not to be God's concepts. But since the concept is from him, he created everybody with different characteristics and purposes.

I understand from physics that light is white but it containers change the color, if a bulb to coated with a color say blue, the light that will be radiated from it is blue. Light takes the color of it coverage. When Christ was saying "you are the light of the world" (Matthew 6:14), he was talking with those that believe in him who is the light of the world from the beginning because "In him was life and the life was the light of men and the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not comprehend it" (John 1:4-5).

The Holy Spirit gives people different gifts but these same fruits which imply that, in whatever way a man in church live due to different spiritual gifts and personal differences the outcome is still the same – to glorify God.

So, what sense is in it trying to imitate another man when the creator had pre-destined you to radiate a particular color of light. So, illuminate the world, make it colorful and interesting by being who God had created you to be, stop duplicating, because by so doing, the world will be deprived of your God-given beautiful color and get more of the other color your are trying to radiate.

"Let me tell you why you are here. You're here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. If you lose your saltiness, how will people taste godliness? You've lost your usefulness and will end up in the garbage.

"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill.  (Matthew 5:13-14 msg)

Today's different seasonings available for food give an insight into how God wants us to live. Everybody has preference for one brand of seasoning or the other. All these seasoning brands have certain measure of salt, taste and aroma suitable for different people. Every Christian is a season to his neighborhood, giving taste, aroma and sweetness that are distinct from that of any other Christian and giving credit to God for giving such a unique flavor to the world.

The same applies when God calls us the light of the world. Every bulb does not come in the same color coating, hence, the same white light (Jesus) in a blue, yellow, purple, or green color coated bulb (man) radiate light with respect to their color coating. This means that the same Holy Spirit in people radiates light through people...