Autism & the Structure of Reality part 17: The Battle Before the Harvest

But another question immediately follows.

If the field contains two kinds of seed, then who is planting them? Because Jesus doesn't simply tell us there are weeds.

He tells us there are two sowers, two kingdoms, two visions of what the human being ought to become.

And perhaps this is one of the deepest questions in the entire gospel.

Not simply what do you believe, but which kingdom is quietly shaping the person you are becoming? And then I think of the two kingdoms, the kingdom of God and the kingdom of darkness.

Two sowers, two kinds of seeds, two directions of becoming.

Earlier I asked what the kingdom of darkness offers, and I think one of the most powerful strategies is that it shows us what we can get while hiding what we will become.

The kingdoms of the world, the splendor and the power, the reward, but not the destination.

Not the self formed through worshiping those things.

Not the person we become after years of giving them our attention.

The kingdom of darkness asks, "What do you want?" And then offers the shortest path toward getting it, with no long-term explanation of your becoming with those actions.

But Jesus repeatedly asks a different kind of question.

What is worth wanting? What is worth loving? What is worth worshiping? And perhaps most importantly, who are you becoming through what you love? Look again at the Beatitudes.

Blessed are the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

Remember, this is about a new path.

The merciful, the pure in heart, and the peacemakers, those three are oriented towards relational values.

That is not merely a list of rules.

It is a vision of a certain kind of human being, a person becoming something.

And compare that with the third temptation.

All the kingdoms of the world, all the splendor and the power and the possession and the control.

If your word is so good, Jesus, just take control and force people to follow you.

Two visions of what it means to flourish.

Two kingdoms.

Two kinds of seed.

Two directions of becoming, and both are present in the same field.