FRUITY

Since reading Dallas Willard’s The Great Omission, I have had a strange obsession with the mention of “fruit” and its usage throughout scripture, specifically in the Gospels. Willard had a statement that made a significant impact on my life and my own spiritual journey, the statement being “If you tend to the tree, the fruit will take care of itself.” His statement was in the context of Luke 6 in regards to the good and bad trees bearing their respective fruit. The statement hit me in the heart. Am I putting my life in the way of God, the One with the pruning sheers, who can shape my life into one that bears the fruit of righteousness, goodness, patience, self-control, wisdom, peacefulness and gentleness? The statement made me ask the question, “Am I becoming the good tree?”

I recently read a scripture verse that never before stood out at all. I have read over it multiple times, in one of my favorite books of the Bible, yet the words never spoke to me until now. The scripture verse, Matthew 3:8, is quite simple and therefore, easily overlooked: “Therefore, bear fruit in keeping with repentance.”(NASB)

The context is John the Baptist speaking to the Sadducees and Pharisees who approached him while he was performing a baptism of repentance. John’s initial greeting for the Sadducees and Pharisees wasn’t charming, “You brood of vipers, who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?” It sounds like John is upset that someone let the cat-out-of-the-bag about a special event like a surprise birthday party. John, it seems, would like to know who told the Sadducees and Pharisees that now was the time to repent and turn to God.

John continues in his message saying essentially that God can make up new children who belong to him out of anything, even inanimate objects like stones. So don’t think because of who you are (Pharisees and/or Sadducees) that you can live as you please and be children of God.

I started with talking about fruit. We enjoy summer and its fruit, with fond memories of scavenging berry bushes, spitting cherry pits, and eating strawberry shortcake…lots of strawberry shortcake. These are the conventional thoughts on fruit. Obviously, there is more in mind in the biblical sense of “fruit.” It has to do with the fruit of our life, which is essentially our “works.” I believe our works are not what make us righteous; rather, works are a response out of our righteousness. Our good fruit comes out of a life made good by God through Christ Jesus. The word “fruit” has captured my attention lately and I think that’s why the scripture jumped out at me like never before. I like how the NLT translates it: “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.” I had one of those “wow!” moments that you always enjoy when reading scripture.

If every confessing Christian took this scripture seriously and started living to its command of “proving by the way you live that you have turned to God” then maybe people might begin to see a difference in Christians, maybe even some fruit would come of what it is like to live in the kingdom of God and belong to God as his children.

But so often we don’t set out to prove we live for God. We try proving the things that simply don’t need our pathetic pontificating. We set out to prove: the existence of God, the creation of the world, why we take communion every week, the essentiality of baptism, the importance of coming to church services on Sunday, why people shouldn’t drink, smoke…Christians seem to get so enveloped with arbitrary things, if we actually set out to prove that we have repented of our sins and live for God then maybe people might see a different sort of faith where Christians no longer live a life of “sexual immorality, impurity, idolatry, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, envy and drunkenness,” Paul warns us, “those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

We need to take serious the way we live our life, and what we set out to prove. When we set out to prove we live for God and have repented of sins, we will bear fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. My point then is what are we setting out to prove? That we are right? Or that we live for God? I think there is a drastic difference, one that separates the Christ followers from the Pharisees. For one, they set to prove their ways were right, for the other, that God can be trusted and is who we all ought to live for.

This verse climbed the ranks of my favorite verses. It once wasn’t even in the running, now it sits before me at my desk. “bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” In other words, live like you love God. Write this verse down and put it in places where it is always before you, where you walk through the door, open the fridge, look at the speedometer… Always have before you words that encourage you to bear the fruit of a godly life. Ask yourself this question, “What am I trying to prove?” The answer is the fruit.