The Pneuma Project

It seems clear that followers of Jesus are sent into the world the same way God sent Jesus into the world. John 3 says that Jesus was sent out of love, that He was sent to redeem, and that He was not sent to judge. I’m not totally sure if this is how most Christians see themselves, or if this is how others see them.

In Matthew 13 Jesus tells a very interesting parable about some weeds sown among some wheat. When His servants ask if they should pull up the weeds He tells them not to worry about it; when the time for harvest is right, His harvesters (the angels) will separate the weeds from the wheat and will be disposed of. A couple insights on this from Sunday evening: First the wheat and the weeds grow together in the field (the world). This is a given. No where does Jesus say the wheat is enclosed in a protected greenhouse with plenty of pesticides and herbicides. The whole point is that the wheat and the weeds grow together in the field. How opposite is this from the way many churches have isolated themselves from the evil influences of the world. Second, it’s impossible to tell the difference between the wheat and weeds until the harvest. Not only that, but Jesus says to wait on judging what is a weed because His servants might make a mistake. Oh if only we as Jesus-followers would take this to heart. Perhaps then we might be known by our love and the hope we profess rather then our judgmental attitudes and hypocritical condemnation.

Let’s spend some time looking at another of Jesus’ parables and how it relates to how we are called to live and act in our world:

Matthew 18:21-35
Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, “Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?”
Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.
“Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand talents was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
“The servant fell on his knees before him. ‘Be patient with me,’ he begged, ‘and I will pay back everything.’ The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.
“But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii. He grabbed him and began to choke him. ‘Pay back what you owe me!’ he demanded.
“His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, ‘Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.’
“But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
“Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?’ In anger his master turned him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother from your heart.”

What do you think the most unbelievable part of this parable would be for Jesus’ hearers? For us today? Which person in this parable do you think is most like Christians? Who does Jesus seem to be addressing this parable too? Does that add anything to our understanding of it?

Here are some other parts of Scripture that seem to connect with this:
Luke 6:37-42
John 20:19-23
Titus 3:3-8

I’d really love to hear your thoughts on what you think this means for followers of Jesus as we interact with God’s creation and the people God loves.