Monthly Message, August 2022
D&C 86:4–8 “But behold, in the last days, even now while the Lord is beginning to bring forth the word, and the blade is springing up and is yet tender — Behold, verily I say unto you, the angels are crying unto the Lord day and night, who are ready and waiting to be sent forth to reap down the fields; But the Lord saith unto them, pluck not up the tares while the blade is yet tender (for verily your faith is weak), lest you destroy the wheat also. Therefore, let the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest is fully ripe; then shall ye first gather out the wheat from among the tares, and after the gathering of the wheat, behold and lo, the tares are bound in bundles, and the field remaineth to be burned.”
I now give my personal interpretation of this scripture:
I believe that there are three main types of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:
First are those who are active or semi-active and who are keeping the covenants they have made with the Savior and the Father. Some are strong unto mighty works of righteousness, ministering carefully under the Savior’s tutelage. Others are weak, and are barely hanging on, but nevertheless they try to keep the commandments. These, the whole spectrum, are the wheat, those whom the Lord will save and lift up at His coming.
Secondly are those who once were active in the Church, but because of the cares of the world and the temptations of the adversary, no longer participate in the activities of the Church. When the Savior comes, these will be treated basically as non-members of His Church. They will either not be burned if they are keeping the Ten Commandments, or will be burned if they are breaking the Ten Commandments.
Thirdly are those who are active members of the Church, but who quietly or sometimes not quietly seek to challenge those in authority and who encourage others not to be “true blue” members of the Church. Sometimes these persons are church officers, such as bishops and stake presidents, even mission presidents. But they do not engender faith in Christ nor humility. They tend to represent the pride of the world. And sometimes they are well-connected, enjoying the friendship of General Authorities. Their mission is to block the true work of Christ by substituting a semblance of show, pretending to be faithful while actually working to hamper the Kingdom of God. These I believe are the tares, those who will be gathered and burned first when the Savior comes in His Second Coming.
What should you and I do about the tares? I believe it the task of those who are truly faithful Latter-day Saints to be on the lookout for tares and identify them in their own minds. But it is not the task given to ordinary members to “do” anything about the tares. Bishops and Stake Presidents do have the responsibility to do something about them, but sometimes they are prevented from doing so because someone higher in authority prevents them from doing so.
Remember that it is the Savior’s will to let the wheat and the tares grow together and not to root out the tares until the end. The task of those who are truly faithful to Christ is to continue ministering in all humility and let those who have keys worry about the tares and deal with each one as the Savior instructs them.
But please be aware that there are tares.
Related scriptures:
D&C 45:56–57: “And in that day, when I shall come in my glory, shall the parable be fulfilled which I spake concerning the ten virgins. For they that are wise and have received the truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide, and have not been deceived—verily I say unto you, they shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day.”
D&C 112:24–26: “Behold, vengeance cometh speedily upon the inhabitants of the earth, a day of wrath, a day of burning, a day of desolation, of weeping, of mourning, and of lamentation; and as a whirlwind it shall come upon all the face of the earth, saith the Lord. And upon my house shall it begin, and from my house shall it go forth, saith the Lord; First among you, saith the Lord, who have professed to know my name and have not known me, and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house, saith the Lord.”