Galatians 5:1, 13-25 - Rotten Fruit

(Reflecting on these verses in Galatians 5 this morning, I recalled this devotional I wrote in July 2007.  As I look back over the years that have passed since its writing, I can remember a lot of times where I felt strongly connected to God and His guiding Spirit. There were also times when my life’s choices, including the Rotten Fruit in these verses, have made it nearly impossible to discern the voice of The Holy Spirit for months at a time.

In chapter 15 of John, Jesus says: “Remain in me, and I will remain in you.  A branch cannot produce fruit alone but must remain in the vine. In the same way, you cannot produce fruit alone, but must remain in me.”

In our blogs, tweets, and fervent discussions there is a tendency to become self-righteous in our arguments and beliefs.  There is so much as stake when it comes to the health and effectiveness of the modern church and as a result, passion for God’s Kingdom can quickly become a misguided journey where we find ourselves walking alone without the Holy Spirit present.

I am re-posting this devotional in hopes that it will remind me to stay closely connected to “The Vine” every day.  It is my prayer that God will be my Guiding Spirit at all times so that I can bear the fruit he would have be bear.)

Key Verses:  (NCV)

ü  1:  "We have freedom now, because Christ made us free.  So stand strong.  Do not change and go back into the slavery of the law." - Paul summarizes his argument by suggesting that once we turn to Christ we should not go backwards.  Our lives are changed by our faith in ways never achievable by simply following the law.

ü  13:  "My brothers and sisters, God called you to be free, but do not use your freedom as an excuse to do what pleases your sinful self.  Serve each other with love." - We are given a wonderful vision of God's kingdom but this does not provide us Carte Blanche to act self-righteously.  Love for others is our guiding principle.

ü  17:  "Our sinful selves want what is against the Spirit, and the Spirit wants what is against our sinful selves." - A battle rages within.

ü  19-21:  "The wrong things the sinful self does are clear: being sexually unfaithful, not being pure, taking part in sexual sins, worshiping gods, doing witchcraft, hating, making trouble, being jealous, being angry, being selfish, making people angry with each other, causing divisions among people, feeling envy, being drunk, have wild and wasteful parties, and doing other things like these.  I warn you now as I warned you before:  Those who do these things will not inherit God's kingdom." - Paul is holding a mirror that reveals a somber truth.

ü  22-23:  "But the Spirit produces the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." - These are the guideposts that can be seen along our pathway to holiness.

Points to Contemplate:

Are you making excuses?  Are you stepping on toes as you push through your agenda in the name of Jesus?  Has your passion for His kingdom created a bull-in-the-china-closet approach in your ministry?  Have you enjoyed being righteous?  Are all of your actions acceptable simply because you feel you are responding to God's vision and plan for your life?  Is your ministry so important that the end justifies the means?

Little Christs

“In the same way the Church exists for nothing else but to draw men into Christ, to make them little Christs. If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time.” by C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

In other words, if the church is not making little Christs of the people they draw into the church they are not doing their job.

How does this statement match up with the reality in your church?  Is your church focused on baptisms and conversions only?  Are your weekly messages always focused on Sin and Salvation and you never hear the phrase “Kingdom work”?  If so, then I think C.S. Lewis is suggesting your church is not doing their job.  Is your church focused on "discipling" Christians where adults spend season after season attending Bible study classes but the church membership is in decline and you have not had an adult baptism in 20 years; then, again, is Lewis suggesting your church is not doing its job?

In the early 2000s (and probably time and time again throughout Christian history) there was a focus on creating “Acts 2” churches.  The concept of home community groups, small groups, or life groups has spawned from the Acts 2 movement.  In one sense, the idea of community groups more accurately embraces the Acts 2 church- style where sharing life, resources, and love brings people closer together in Christ.  I applaud the value of small group life.  Everyone should experience Christ at this level. 

However, a question comes to mind as I read the C.S. Lewis quote.  Have modern churches abdicated their duty and responsibility of “making little Christs” by simply throwing the responsibility to small groups?  Has a division in the church developed where the “Church” focuses on drawing, entertaining and converting while leaving the hard work of implementation/spiritual-growth to the small group leaders?  Are the resources of the church being focused too much towards buildings, professional musicians, staging equipment etc., while the resources for spiritual growth are essentially non-existent?

C.S Lewis states “If they are not doing that, all the cathedrals, clergy, missions, sermons, even the Bible itself, are simply a waste of time.”  Is your church a waste of your time?  Is God being served as He should be served or would Jesus be tearing down the lights and sound systems in today’s cathedrals?

Gospel of Wholeness – Revisited

Today I read an article posted on Facebook by Christians Tired of Being Misrepresented called “Penal Substitution is Dying, Thank God!” by Michael Hardin (Patheos - Penal Substitution) that has raised a renewed desire in me to voice my opinion about the manner in which the Gospel Message is presented in our modern Christian churches.

Before I dive in, I need to first apologize for my obvious lack of intelligence and connectedness to the modern-day Christen Intelligentsia that the writer of the article is obviously a part.  To tell you the truth I had to look up too many words and read the article too times before I began to get the gist of what was being said.  Due to my obvious minimalist vocabulary I am certain to have misunderstood the finer innuendos and subtleties the author was attempting to achieve through the very impressive use of some big, and I think, very important words. For this I apologize in advance.

“Penal Substitution” was my first roadblock.  “what in the hell…?”  Or maybe it is hell, or the avoidance there of-but not really.  What the author was discussing was the Gospel of Sin and Salvation that Jesus represents in his death on the cross.  The Sacrificial Lamb who has died for our sins.  I get it.  “I Have Been Washed in the Blood of the Lamb” has never been one of my favorite songs but, even with a casual read of the Bible, you find most of the writers referring to this Sin Debt that Jesus has paid.  You can’t disregard it.

The mistake, I believe, the author is making is that he refers to this “payment” as a throwback to olden days atonement practices where animals were butchered on an alter to pay for a sin.  Atonement is completely different than what Jesus’ life, ministry and death were about.  Atonement only asks for a payment – it does not require a change of action.

John the Baptist in announcing Jesus’ called for a “Repentance of Sins” not an Atonement of sins.  Repentance requires a change… a change of heart, a change of direction, a change of attitude.  Repentance has us turn and walk a different path.  Atonement does not.  Because of this, I believe that comparing Jesus to the practice of Atonement is simply wrong.  Jesus always spoke about change.

The real problem with the article, however, is not this misapplication of Jesus’ life as a holy scapegoat, nor is it the misrepresentation “God is angry at sinners who have broken covenant with God by disobeying the Law of God. God needs to have his anger propitiated.”  (another big word I had to look up).  The main problem is that the author took a very real issue facing our churches today and destroyed any possibility of having important dialogue focused on change.

The Gospel of Sin and Salvation is real.  To say otherwise is to disregard 90% of the Bible.  The issue in our modern churches is that Sin and Salvation are the only aspects of the Gospel message being taught.  Week after week we hear about how sinful we are and that our only hope for eternal life is to repent of these sins, naming Jesus as our savior.   It is the ONLY message we hear.  I for one am getting very tired of being called a sinner and I believe many people, including the author agree.  No matter how truthful my sinfulness  may be there is more to my life with Christ than just the fact that I am a sinner.

 I have repented.  Doesn’t that mean that I can now move on in life as a disciple of Christ, teaching, healing, leading, loving, feeding, and clothing people in need?  Do I not now need to be humble, merciful, forgiving, understanding, loving and a peacemaker?  When we read the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5, does Jesus stand up and call everyone sinners?  Does he call us to repent or atone?  No, he calls us to ministry.  He calls us to be involved in kingdom of heaven work.  Not the kingdom of heaven at some far distant time but the kingdom of heaven “at hand” – now.

If the discussion in Christendom today is to be meaningful in a world of great need, we need to turn our focus to the missional aspects of the Gospel message.  We do not need to have debates of sophistry where we try to destroy bits and pieces of our belief structure.  We need to rally around the teachings of Christ and be Christ in the world today.