The world will be better than you'd think if you look at it now

I haven’t posted for ages – partly very busy, partly nothing to say.

But I thought I’d post briefly now, because this has encouraged me.

The parable of the weeds and the wheat in Matthew 13:24-30 shows (I think) that the world is a mixed place – it contains true disciples and it contains unbelievers. We need to wait until the end of the age to see truly who is who.

Does this mean that there will be a big and nasty surprise – many we thought were believers will turn out not to be?

Possibly, but that’s not what Jesus says. Two details in the parable point to the fact that the world will be a very Christian place one day. No matter when in history you look at the world, if you try and assess its final state from what you see, you’ll assess too low.

1. (This is often pointed out). It’s a field of wheat with weeds in, not the other way around.

2. If you make your judgement too early, which mistake will you make? Verse 29: You’ll look at some plants, conclude they are weeds, when in fact they are wheat. So look at individuals, look at nations, look at continents – we can all find some that look, pretty certainly, that they are unredeemable. Yet however sure we are that they cannot be redeemed, sometimes we’ll be wrong. Without implying universalism, God will include in his kingdom even those people and nations that look to us that they are the most surely irredeemable specimens we’d ever find!