Judges 12:6 Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right.

Shibboleth was used as a password to identify those who were posing as Israelites. It was a simple test, one which the posers could not pass. There is no such test in Christianity.

In the parable of the tares it was asked of the Lord if we should remove the tares from the wheat. His answer was this.

Matthew 13:29 But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them.

At first glance is appears that the Lord is concerned for true believers, that they would be lost. But is that true?

John 10:27-29 My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.

With this being true, then what concern should the Lord have that wheat be removed? It is that while tares hide among the wheat, the God of our salvation is all about conversion, transformation. Who is to say that a tare cannot become wheat? What would it take?

“Faith is the true Shibboleth.” The West Wing episode called “Shibboleth” circa 2000.

What if a tare were to place his/her faith in Jesus Christ? They would be transformed would they not? Who among the tares might find faith in Christ apart from being among the wheat? I do not know and neither do you. Being exposed to the truth gives them more of an opportunity to accept the truth than to be cast out.

It is not for us to judge, but to love.