Fruits
Originally scheduled for March 31
Among his many other duties, Roger was responsible for
maintaining the bulletin board which the State of California
required. This particular day he was posting a rather large piece of
paper. One of the employees asked him what the new piece of paper
was about. He replied that it was a revised version of the
regulations concerning things like maternity leave and other aspects
of pregnancy. One of the ladies present then asked what had changed.
Roger paused, and then with a twinkle in his eye he told her, “they
changed the phrase pregnant women to pregnant persons.”
We
have now progressed to the point where a person can simply state
that they “identify” as female and are allowed to compete in women’s
athletics. Deciding what something is, now, is a very complicated
process. It takes a biologist tell you whether or not a person is a
woman.
Fortunately, things are much simpler for the
Christian. In matters of the spiritual sort we have a simpler test.
If you want to know if something in the church is genuine, you have
only to follow Christ’s instructions.
You will recognize them by
their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from
thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased
tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can
a diseased tree bear good fruit.
(Matthew 7:16-18 ESV)
Of course, this method takes some amount of time. Fruit, natural or
spiritual, doesn’t spring up in a moment. It takes time. But if you
have the patience, the method works consistently.
What does
this have to do with the Lord’s Supper? Simply this: this is the
method to use examining yourself. For example, you might ask
yourself whether or not dissension and argument follow you
everywhere you go in the church. If so, we suggest that you look at
the cause of this. Either you, or the rest of the entire
congregation, are spreading dissension. Rather than that, you should
be spreading the Fruit of the Spirit:
But the fruit of the
Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is
no law.
(Galatians 5:22-23 ESV)
Is this what’s
growing in your life? If not, look inside yourself to and ask why.
Examine yourself, and make plans to change accordingly.
