A TREE: THE PICTURE OF FAILURE

Have you ever wondered why Christians are becoming a smaller percentage of the whole of world religions?  Why the Church is losing ground?  Perhaps the answer is found in the Parable of the Mustard Seed.  It reads:

"Another parable put He forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field:  which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof" (Mt. 13:31-32).

Most people think that the parables found in Matthew 13, paint a picture of a vibrant growing Church.  The Parable of the Sower speaks of the "faithful seed" reproducing up to a hundred fold (13:3-8, 18-23).  But notice in the Lord's second parable, the Parable of the Tares, that Satan plants within "the community of wheat," his own spies and saboteurs; the Church no longer contains only born again believers; it is partially populated by impersonators (13:24-30, 36-43).

In the Parable of the Leaven, an unidentified woman adds leaven, a biblical symbol of sin, death, and corruption; the result, the whole becomes tainted (13:33).  Some say that this use of leaven is a positive use, in that it shows growth; however, I say that the wheat not only remains the same as it was when mixed, it gives the false impression of being much larger than it truly is (Compare 1 Cor. 5:6-8; Gal. 5:9)!

Again in 13:44, we see that the "treasure" is within, or surrounded by, the field, that is the world.  The "pearl," like all pearls, has for its core, a worthless piece of "sand" (13:45-46).  Finally, the Parable of the Fishes teaches that within the massive catch, there are delectable delights, and dastardly deceptions (13:47-50)!  Every single parable speaks of an impure, infiltrated Church!  To be sure, the tares, the leaven, the grain of sand, the field, and the worthless fish, are not winning souls, but on the contrary, they reproduce themselves, making the whole less pure!

But getting back to the Parable of the Mustard Seed, it pictures a tree, growing from a single seed, a small seed, and branching out to such a great extent that the enemy's "birds" can nest in it.  Remember, the birds were defined in the Parable of the Sower as agents of Satan.  But that is not bad enough:  the tree has thousands of branches - I believe this represents the splintering of the Church into denominations, sects, and even cults!  Jesus said that the true Church would grow when the world sees Christian unity (Jn. 17:21-23).  Do you think a tree pictures unity?

What are you doing to maintain unity and harmony in the Church?