Utopia

Many of us have heard people, including many Christians, say that they don’t go to church because of the hypocrites who go. I just had a conversation with a person who falls into this category, interestingly a science professor (and it was a very interesting and non-offensive conversation), two weeks ago. The real problem here is not that Christians, especially those who go to church, are hypocrites, but that the people who make that judgment have an idea of utopia when they think of going to church.

The word utopia as most of us have heard essentially means a perfect and ideal place. The word “utopia” was coined in the 16th Century in the English language, taken from two Greek words, which mean “no” and “place.” Hence, utopia means “not a place.”

The Bible does teach that we as Christians tend toward ideals that would be considered a utopia, but also emphasizes the fact that that vision will not be fully realized in this age, but in the one to come, after God judges humanity and those who are deemed righteous will spend eternity with Him in Heaven, and those who are deemed unrighteous will spend eternity in Hell.

Heaven is the only Utopia, and in a sense it meets the definition of “not a place,” in that it is not like what we know now on earth, but something that is beyond our understanding now as St. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:9, “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

The word utopia also applies to this world in that “not a place” can be found which sin has not damaged. This is why, only the Kingdom of Heaven, is the real Utopia.

As for the complaints that critics raise about church-going Christians being hypocrites, and they are the reason why they themselves don’t go to church, the Bible has an answer to this complaint.

In the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares in Matthew 13, Jesus talks about the Kingdom of Heaven.

He says, “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field; but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way. But when the grain had sprouted and produced a crop, then the tares also appeared. So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this.’ The servants said to him, ‘Do you want us then to go and gather them up?’ But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn”’” (Matthew 13:24-30).

Here the Church (the community of believers) is likened to Wheat, while the community of nonbelievers, Christians who are not concerned with their spiritual life, and all other groups, is likened to Tares. Now the interesting thing about Tares are that while they grow in the early stages, as well as also while growing, they are very hard to distinguish from Wheat, in that they look very similar.

The enemy in the Parable is Satan; in fact that is what “Satan” and “Devil,” mean. Satan sows seeds while men, those in the Church most likely the clergy, sleep.

They wake up and find that there are Tares growing among the Wheat and ask their lord what to do. They make a suggestion to uproot the Tares while they are still growing. Their lord answers “no” because uprooting some of these Tares might also uproot Wheat with them.

The Harvest is the judgment day at the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels God will send to “gather together His elect” (Matthew 24:31).

The separation of the Wheat and the Tares at the Harvest is the actual judgment, and the Tares are first burned up, go to Hell that is, and the Wheat is gathered into the barn, go to the House of God, Heaven that is.

This Parable gives us an answer to give to the critics, and to Christians as well if they reply that they don’t go to church because there are hypocrites there. Jesus Himself addressed this issue prophetically before it happened.

Satan planted certain people in the Church to counter God’s work, and God will leave the Tares (those Christians who aren’t so in truth), to continue in the Church until the Judgment Day. He directly says so to the “men” in the Parable who symbolize the clergy or even the laity.

It is important to point out that Jesus tells the men not to gather the Tares, because telling Tares from Wheat is hard, and if one tries to remove Tares he might accidentally remove Wheat as well. This reminds us not to judge others as Jesus also commanded. We cannot be judges because then we are raising ourselves to God’s perfection who knows everything and thus that is the reason why He is fit to judge because He has all the facts, hidden and unhidden, while we have very limited knowledge.

So let us not be tempted by the idea that we should not go to church where “hypocrites” are, not listen to teaching that says going to church with hypocrites is not right. Both these ideas do not agree with the Bible and are temptations from Satan to keep us away from church and away from edification.

Therefore let us keep our eyes only on God, and judge only ourselves, so we may grow in Him and remember that a utopia is “not a place” that is here, and the only Utopia will be Heaven.

Glory be to God both now and ever and unto the age of all ages. Amen.