Paradox Holds Us
Author Debie Thomas considers the paradox of Jesus’
parable of the weeds and wheat:
In the Gospel of Matthew [13:24–30], Jesus invites us
to lean courageously into paradox. A householder plants
seeds in his field. While everyone is asleep, an enemy
sneaks onto the field, sows weeds among the wheat, and
goes away. When the plants come up, the householder’s
servants are baffled. “Master, did you not sow good
seed in your field?…. Where did these weeds come from?”
The householder doesn’t spare them the truth: “An enemy
has done this” (13:27–28).
But when the servants offer to tear up the weeds, the
householder stops them. “No, for in gathering the weeds
you would uproot the wheat along with them. Let them
both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time,
I’ll instruct my reapers to collect, bundle, and burn
the weeds, and then I’ll gather the wheat into my barn”
(13:29–30).
As I ponder this parable, I see Jesus asking his
followers to hold seemingly contradictory truths in
tension. One: evil is real, noxious, and among us. Two:
our response to evil must include both acknowledgment
and restraint….
I tend to get worked up about weeds. Weeds in my own
life, and weeds in other people’s. I tend to get eager,
preachy, and zealous for the purity of the field.
Possessive about the integrity of the householder.
Impatient for a quick, clean harvest.
Also, like the servants, I tend to lead with confidence
rather than humility when it comes to moral gardening:
“Jesus, trust me, I know how to separate the weeds from
the wheat. Let me at it, please, and I’ll have that
field cleared for you in no time!”
But Jesus says no. “No” and “wait.” Jesus insists on
patience, humility, and restraint when it comes to
patrolling the borders of the field. He asks us, even
as we acknowledge the pernicious reality of evil, to
accept his timing instead of ours when it comes to
destroying it. Why? Because there is no way we can
police the wheat field without damaging the wheat.
There is no way we can rid ourselves of everything bad
without distorting everything good. When we rush ahead
of God and start yanking weeds … we do harm to
ourselves and to the field. Our sincerity devolves into
arrogance. Our love devolves into judgment. Our
holiness devolves into hypocrisy. The field suffers.
Thomas understands that Jesus calls us to be held in
paradox:
Evil is real, noxious, and among us, and our own
response to evil must include both acknowledgment and
restraint.
If this ambiguity worries you, then remember that we
are braced by a God who is too big for one-dimensional
truths, and this is a good thing. It’s not that we hold
paradox; it’s that paradox holds us. We are held in a
deep place. An ample place. A generous place. Though we
might fear paradox, God does not. We’re safe, even in
the contradictions. Weedy, perhaps, but safe.
Read this meditation on cac.org.
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