I think church people get nervous when they read this:

“Do not stop him,” Jesus said, “for whoever is not against you is for you.”

And I think they have avoided truly understanding this:

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’” ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may root up the wheat with them.

The first suggests that there are those people who may not ascribe to all of what Jesus teaches, but if they are doing what is good then they should be left alone… or even encouraged and learned from?

The second is even more vague. Jesus speaks of a farm that has weeds and wheat growing up together and suggests that we don’t pull the weeds, but let them grow together.

In both cases I believe control is the main issue. Jesus seems to want us to trust and release control. It is not our job to sort another persons motivation, but we should address our own.

It is not our job to remove the bad from the good (from our perspective), because we may remove some good in the process. And it’s pretty ego-centric to think that you know what is good and what is bad.

So what can we do?

We stop controlling. We learn how to be free. We trust. We have faith. We learn from everyone.

I think we have miss-read this passage:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

To test and approve we cannot conform. In order to not conform, we have to have be transformed. In order to be transformed, we need a renewed mind.

Let me translate: In order to be able to allow weeds and wheat grow together (learn from everyone) we need to see life as God sees it, not feel the need to control it. In order to not control we need to be able to observe ourselves and move forward in faith. In order to be move forward we need to rethink our whole self-centered outlook on life.

It all begins by addressing your ego.

“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”

The more your ego has control in your life, the more you need to control, and the further away you are from truly learning from everyone.