This photo was generated by AI—Is this a photo of tares or wheat? I asked for a photo of both growing together.

Matthew 13:24-30

²⁴ Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field:²⁵ But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way.²⁶ But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.²⁷ So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?²⁸ He said unto them, An enemy hath done this. The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?²⁹ But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.³⁰ Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn.

Tares, also known as darnel, looks like wheat until it produce fruit. The fruit is an intoxicant and was used to make beer more potent so you get drunker. It was also used as a medication to induce sleep. It effects mental clarity, speech and vision and if taken in larger quantities it can cause death. People used it to get stoned or high. Another fact, tares have to be planted…they don’t just grow.

The tares the enemy planted were more than a simple annoyance, it was an attempt to poison, induce intoxication, sleep, and death. The tares represent false doctrine. In the verses above, it says the enemy sowed the tares, then went away. The enemy was long gone by the time the damage was even noticeable. Another thing to note is that the Kingdom of Heaven sowed good seed…. but the men who were put over the crop were asleep when the enemy came in to plant the bad seed. This represents pastors and leaders who are otherwise occupied and don’t catch the enemy in their midst sowing bad seed…they remain clueless about it until the crop starts to grow, and by then the enemy is long gone.

Last night, I was settling in for bed and scrolling through YouTube for a video to listen to. I like to listen to Voddie, John MacArthur, Paul Washer or similar teachers before going to sleep. I saw some videos that were from a channel called “Voddie Speaks” that had titles that were very unVoddie-like. They were AI generated using Voddies voice, but not his theology. These video are REALLY CLOSE to sound doctrine, but they are ever so slightly off. I know that being misdirected starts with a single step that is slightly off course. AI is being used to shift the beliefs of people ever so slightly so they begin moving in the wrong direction…away from sound doctrine. So we now have AI tares putting out poisonous fruit.

It’s time to get really careful about what we listen to. For now AI has a problem saying certain words, numbers and interpreting punctuation using proper inflection. These are issues only because the person generating the video is lazy… with a little work, these telltale signs aren’t there. The Christian way of dealing with this should be to:

• know the word and compare what is being taught.
• fully realize that just because you hear something in the voice and image of a person you trust, they may have never said it…a computer program said it using their voice to say what the person creating the video wants them to say.
• understand that swaying your thinking in a big way isn’t done with big ideas, it starts with a tiny idea that is built upon over time. This can be a good change or a bad change… it can be something you are aware of, but the most effective way is to change you in small ways that you don’t even detect. Let nothing slide because it seems insignificant.
• stop listening to AI completely
• NEVER put on teachings for “background noise”… Pay attention to what is being sown into your spirit because tares can kill you.

(Darnel/ Lolium temulentum)

The goal of the tare is to corrupt the good doctrine sown inside your heart. A common tare is to convince people that they are saved by grace, but also required to do good works to be saved. The good seed is that we are saved by grace, the tare is that grace isn’t enough on its own, we also need to do good works to earn salvation. While good works are produced by Christians, the works aren’t done to earn salvation… they’re done because the person has a regenerated spirit and good works naturally flow from a person who loves others. From the outside looking in, you can’t easily tell if a person is doing good works from a regenerated heart or from a religious spirit at first. Eventually, the motivating attitude is exposed when other attributes develop. In the wheat and tares it become obvious when the plant starts to mature… the head of the wheat bows low…heavy with fruit and the tares, devoid of fruit, remain tall and proud.

The Tares

• Tares cause sleepiness———false teachings lul Christians into a false sense of security where they are no longer carefully seek to learning and growing in the Word …they treat their relationship with God/Jesus/ The Holy Spirit as a religious investment instead of a spiritual commitment.
• Tares cause intoxication—false teachings that have people seeking experiences and feelings, even at times mimicking intoxication. Sound doctrine from the word of God does not have this type of encounter, and the 1 scripture that is used to justify this is taken out of context and misunderstood.
• Tares cause a loss of mental clarity— false teaching leads to confusion and being tossed around from one doctrine to another.
• Tares cause death—false teachings cause a person to walk away from God, follow false gods, adopt beliefs that are unscriptural, leading to pride and idolatry. A good example of this is the prosperity gospel… and the belief that a person can speak things into existence.

The Good Seed
***Romans 12:1-2 12 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.² And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
***Ephesians 4:23²³ And be renewed in the spirit of your mind;
***Philippians 2:5 ⁵ Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
***2 Corinthians 10:5⁵ Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
***Philippians 4:8⁸ Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
***Titus 2:3-5³ The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;⁴ That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,⁵ To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.
***1 Peter 1:13 ¹³ Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
***1 Peter 5:8 ⁸ Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:
***Isaiah 26:3³ Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.
***1 Thessalonians 5:6-8⁶ Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.⁷ For they that sleep sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night.⁸ But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation.