On Sunday, September 10, 2017 I gave a speech at Open Prairie UCC about Spiritual Fruit. Here is a link to that one:
Since then I have continued to think about the fruit of a Christian life, and I’ve linked to this speech a few times on social media rather than trying to summarize it into a comment field.
Recently I have heard other interpretations of these verses, and since I believe the subject to be important, I am revisiting it. So,
Today I’m thinking about Spiritual Fruit (again)…
Before I get to the part about fruit, I want to make a point about differentiating between a physical history and a spiritual history. I think many people see the bible as a physical history book, and then find inconsistencies that weaken their trust in its value as a resource. As a physical history it is quite weak. Many historical events in a span of over a thousand years are barely mentioned, if at all. But I don’t think it is intended to be a physical history. I think it is meant to trace the spiritual development of a group of people who are trying to live in relationship to God, recording the consequences of their interactions with other groups and what they learned along the way, hopefully presented in a form that we can learn from, too.
You might remember many stories about Kings in the Old Testament. Knowing the succession of kingship is not as useful as trying to understand the general trend those stories illustrate:
When the Jews willingly follow a leader who is like a good shepherd,
things go well.
When they turn to the classic “empire” model of kingship,
with slaves to do the work
and soldiers to enforce it,
it goes badly.
What are we to learn?
The history of kings?
or the lessons we can learn from their experiences?
Well, my example might not be the best way to discuss this concept.
What I’m trying to say is, “For a modern Christian living today, the usefulness of scripture is not the physical history, it is the spiritual history.”
In a similar way, I think the verses that talk about fruit are not intended to be physical benefits in our lives, they are spiritual benefits.
Not only benefits for the person producing the fruit, but to the community around them as well.
In the speech I gave previously I mentioned Matthew 7:20 specifically, but here is the whole thought:
Matthew 7:16-20
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. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus
you will recognize them by their fruits.
The intent of the passage seems obvious, but the next question that comes into my mind is,
What is the fruit?
In Paul’s letter to the Galatians he writes this:
Galatians 5:16-23
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
It was suggested to me that worldly accomplishments can also be described as Christian fruit, but I don’t see that concept anywhere in scripture.
Here is an interesting example;
The concept of “charity” is mentioned many times in the bible.
Why wouldn’t charity be included in the list of fruits?
If charity is good and encouraged in the text, why isn’t it a fruit?
I began to wonder about this, and after wrestling with it for a while I think I know why.
Charity is a willingness to share something to help someone else.
Charity is wonderful, and I believe in the value of it.
But what if you don’t have anything to share?
Or enough to share?
What if you are in the worst circumstances you can imagine?
What if you are in a refugee camp with no resources?
What if you are in the deepest prison in the most brutal country you can imagine?
What if you are physically disabled in the worst way you can imagine?
Let’s imagine we are stuck in a bad situation, with no resources and no way out.
Imagine having no hope of changing our predicament in the future.
Imagine being helpless in the most dismal conditions imaginable…
In a state like that, let’s look at the list again:
Can we be Loving? YES.
Can we feel Joy? YES.
Can we be at Peace? YES.
Can we be Patient? YES.
Can we be Kind? YES.
Can we be Good? YES.
Can we stay Faithful? YES.
Can we be Gentle? YES.
Can we have Self Control? YES.
(and for the sake of completeness:)
Can we have Charity? MAYBE NOT.
It might not be easy to produce those fruits in harsh circumstances, and the fruit may come and go from one moment to the next, but what I think the scripture is trying to teach is that the Christian life can produce these fruits regardless of our physical circumstances.
The fruit is Spiritual, not Physical.
I will end with one more thought. In the gospel of John, Jesus says:
John 15:1-2
I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.
My report card may not have a lot of gold stars on it,
but I would like to be more fruitful
-=-=-=-
(thanks for sharing this time with me, and may God bless you)