“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” (Matthew 7:1-2, ESV)
In a cornfield, there once was an ear of corn. The ear of corn looked at itself and thought, gee what a model ear of corn I am. Every ear in this field ought to meet my standard, especially since we want the best field of corn around.
Therefore, the ear of corn began its work. It went from stalk to stalk and began removing any ear that fell below its standard. In due time, the ear had purged the field of every ear that fell below the standard. About half the ears remained.
Then one of the ears that remained looked at itself and thought, gee what an awesome ear of corn I am. We still have inferior ears of corn in this field. We need to make this field the best field of corn. Therefore, this ear began to remove all the inferior ears.
The ear came to the former ear. The ear that had formerly thought it was the model of an excellent ear of corn. It took the former ear and threw it out of the field. Now the entire field only consisted of a few ears of corn.
The farmer returned to survey his field and was in great dismay. His once beautiful field, the field to which he labored and gave everything, was now a decimated and barren plot. He looked at the remaining ear of corn and said how did this happen? The ear said that they began assessing the quality of the ears and kept removing them all to make the crop the best and that he alone remained.
The farmer stated, you foolish ear of corn. Did you not know that each one of those ears was growing to maturity? Now the field is ruined and you have no value alone. Therefore, he cast out the last ear of corn also and plowed the ground again.
I was in a church once where the Pastor felt it was his duty to purge the church from the spiritually immature, which they evidenced in their fleshly appetites in attitudes and actions. Eventually the Pastor came under scrutiny for his own immaturity and left the church under duress. This church eventually closed its doors.
There are two morals of this story. First, do not be one who empties the field. Second, when you find the perfect church, you will find an empty building. In the second case, do not go in, for then you will have ruined it.
Renewing the Heart 