In the teaching I shared yesterday at King Mountain Church, “The Golden Standard” (LED BY RED series), I brought up a question I want to expound on in today’s blog: Is your love for God demonstrated through the absence of BAD FRUIT or the presence of GOOD FRUIT? Jesus spoke about the issue of fruitfulness in John 15 and shared his expectation that those of us who choose to follow him would produce “much fruit.” (John 15:5) As I reflect on other New Testament writers there’s a consistent expectation expressed that followers of Jesus continue to grow in God’s love (See 2 Peter 1:5-8; 2 Corinthians 3:18; James 1:17-27). It’s not like we ever reach a point where we can put our spiritual life on cruise control. Yet even though most of us who have followed Christ for any length of time know of this expectation to grow, we still fight against boredom, distraction, and laziness. This is where the question above kicks in. Personally, I think one of the reasons why Christ followers get spiritually stuck in a place of little or no growth is because they have shifted their focus to “the absence of BAD FRUIT.” As I’ve talked about at King Mountain Church the past two Sundays there’s a tendency to focus on RULES (the commandments of God), and less of a focus on RELATIONSHIP, with God and others. If that’s not enough of a drag on a person’s spiritual life, this is further complicated because with the RULES there’s usually an extreme focus on the DON’Ts (the “thou shalt not’s” for the old school types), rather than the DO’s of the Bible. I see this especially with those who have followed Christ for an extended time, like ten years or more. In many ways their love for God revolves around the things they don’t do. I think it’s great when the transforming power of God’s love brings significant and even sometimes dramatic life change, and we’re no longer the person we used to be. I hope that’s the case for all of us. But it’s a dangerous thing to measure our love for God by the things we don’t do, or the rules we keep.
From my perspective as a pastor, I’ve had the opportunity to observe thousands of Christ followers. There’s no doubt, based on my experience, the followers who are most fruitful are those engaged in a growing relationship with God and other Christ followers and who are passionate about DOING. They devote each day to being “led by red” (the words and works of Jesus).
If you find yourself spiritually stuck in a place of little or no growth [fruitfulness], it’s time to shift your focus to “the presence of GOOD FRUIT.” Determine you’ll be a “blessing” everywhere you go and with everyone you come in contact with. The word, BLESS, is one of those words which gets used frequently, but many people don’t fully understand its spiritual significance. Several years ago I had a group of friends and when we prayed together we placed a ban on the word, bless, to force us to give more definition to our prayers. It was actually a really good thing, you might try it. To BLESS, in the context of the New Testament, can mean: “celebrate with praises; to cause to prosper, to make happy.” (Strong’s Concordance, 2127) When we bless someone, we may be declaring God’s favor over their life. So if you’ve become spiritually stuck, become a BLESSER and a DOER. Look for opportunities to bless and to be a blessing. Look for small acts of kindness you can share to express God’s love to someone. As Pastor Steve Sjogren says, “Small things done with great love will change the world.” Personally, I have a conviction there’s no such thing as a “small thing” because God can take even the simplest act of kindness and magnify it and multiply it to accomplish great things.
Reggie McNeal, who has written some great books on the mission of God, talks about how many churches have an evangelism strategy and suggests instead they adopt a “blessing strategy.” I heard someone say that believers and unbelievers have something in common, they both hate evangelism. Maybe you’re in the group of Christ followers, where when you hear the word, evangelism, you cringe and are even overwhelmed with guilt. I say change your thinking and adopt a “blessing strategy.” Look for opportunities to share the good news with others, and, if necessary, use words. Well, it’s time to go bless someone, and not just after they sneeze!
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