Where’s The Fruit?
October 13th, 2009 by Victor
Going to church doesn’t make you a follower of Jesus. Neither does reading the entire Bible. Neither does taking a class about Christian doctrine. Knowing the teachings of Jesus doesn’t make you his disciple. Volunteering to help your church doesn’t prove that you are a Christian either.
If we take these and other similar tests to prove whether or not we are Christians we may find ourselves to be surprised on judgement day. It is scary to think that we might be attending a church service our entire life, yet not know the leader of that Church. A modern day take on Matthew 7:21-23 might sound like this:
“Many will come to me in that day and say, Lord, Lord, did we not make the coffee for the church, did we not show up early and stay late, did we not volunteer to help on this committee or that? And the Lord will say, I never knew you, depart from me, you who practice lawlessness.”
Kind of crazy to think about those things isn’t it? Sometimes we get our validation as Christians because we fell comforted because some of those things are checked off our list of “What it means to be a Christian.” Now, don’t get me wrong, Christians fellowship. They read their Bibles too. They know what Jesus teaches and help out serving others. But that isn’t what proves that they are Christians.
What is it then that is the test of discipleship if it is not these things? Well, there are a couple of things I could say. But I want to focus on one simple answer:
John 15:8 – My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.
Remember the parable of the sower? Which is the only story that ends well? It’s the seed that falls on good ground that is the one commended. And what is the difference between this ground and all of the others? The fact that it bore fruit. It wasn’t just that they heard the gospel. It wasn’t just that they believed for a while. It was the one that heard it, believed it, and held on to it until there was an outward evidence of the gospel being sown in the good ground heart.
So if we plant an apple seed in the earth and expect to see apples grow, what should the fruit look like that comes from the sowing of the gospel of the Kingdom and the things concerning Jesus Christ? Perhaps the evidence that should come from that sort of seed should look like the Kingdom of God and Jesus Christ.
So rather than validating ourselves by our busy-ness in and for the church, lets take a look at our lives and see if it looks like what the Kingdom will look like. Lets ask if we see Jesus Christ in our actions rather than ourselves and the worlds.
Vic, hard to argue with your logic! I happen to feel that most church goers are, at beast, marginally different from non church goers and the church politics, bickering, power struggles and such are “proof” of that ( not that there are never good reasons for such ).
Also, one of the arguments against “churches” is……..”they’ve caused more wars than anyone” and its hard to expalin the inquisition and such to such people. What I always tel them is that there can be difference sbetween people who claim to be Christians and people who allow Yahweh to mold them into what he wants them to be ( or, at least, closer tot hat objective ).
So…..you are correct, as I see it, the “check list approach” doesn’t work!
Those that say that churches have “caused more wars than anyone” are believing inaccurate statistics anyway. There was a thread about that earlier this year:
http://kingdomready.org/blog/2009/02/21/religon-responsible-for-the-greatest-killing-not-so-fast/
Still, your point is well made – the ones who claim to be Christians but live like the rest of the world give true Christianity a bad name.
Amen, bro.
Where’s the fruit?
From a biblical to modern tv commercials:
Where’s the beef?
Where the deeds mentioned in your first paragraph = the big, fluffy bun, but Jesus needs meat, not empty carbs. Let’s approach our Christian lives with a South Beach mentality and focus first on the meat before considering carbs.
By the way Vic thanks for Beta testing of these thoughts on Wednesday nights.
Very thought provoking and something that I have not thought much about until the last year or so. I think that most Christians in the U.S. (I cannot speak of other places) are cultural Christians – we are Christians and do the church-things because, typically, our parents were Christians.
I think there needs to be a real work of the Spirit in our lives (not just a raising of the hand “as all eyes are closed and heads bowed”, or the recitation of the “sinner’s prayer”) to make us true fruit-bearers, and therefore authentic Christians.
This is very uncomfortable for many to even consider the possibility that we are not truly followers of Jesus.
excellent thoughts. We all need to check our fruit!
When I read it, I thought of I Corinthians 3:11-15, where Paul talks about each man’s work being tested and whether we are building upon people (who have a foundation of Jesus) with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay or straw – and whether that work will be burned up or remain.
I think our job and responsibility of bearing fruit (not just in our own lives, but in discipling others!), is more serious than we sometimes want to consider. Are we just haphazardly throwing on a layer of straw, just when the mood strikes us…or do we take the time, to really invest in someone’s life and build with gold, that will remain in the end?
It’s very humbling to look at my fruit in my life. It’s something that we have to be very intentional about, and my heart’s desire is to build strong Christians grounded in the Scriptures who are good fruit, producing their OWN fruit! That is really the test. Are my fruit producing yet?
As Vic says about being around and hearing, or being around, and
being, or doing some things, it doesn’t necessarliy mean we are in the kingdom or living in the kingdom that God has spiritually placed us in, hence the parable of the sower.
We may be in it, living in it, be having trouble, and not seeing much fruit, but fruit takes time. Maybe we produce a little here and there.
When we look back one day we might not even see it, but God saw it all.
I’m reminded of John the Baptist’s direct warning to those of the religious hierarchy who
came to be baptized:
“Brood of vipers! Who put it into your heads to flee from the coming wrath? Prove the sincerity of your repentance by you life and conduct.” (Matthew 3: 7,8 – Barclay translation) Literally they needed to “produce fruit corresponding to repentance (v. 8 )” In other words, professed repentance, even with outward symbolism (such as baptism,) would be worthless without the production of fruit (evidenced by godly actions from a truly repentant heart.)
John went on to say:
“Even now the axe is poised at the root of the trees. Every tree which does not produce good fruit is going to be cut down and flung into the fire.” – v. 10
Fortunately, God tells us what good fruit looks like in contrast to the works of the flesh (Galatians 5: 19-24); He also reveals how to diligently build the qualities of heart that will result in one not being “useless” or “unfruitful” in terms of entering God’s kingdom (II Peter 1: 3-11) We confirm our calling by giving attention to this genuine growth process (the only way not to spiral down into the world’s corruption.)
faith/ virtue or excellence (like God’s)/ knowledge / self-control/ perseverance or endurance/ godliness/ fraternal friendliness/ love (agape)