NEWS Where's the Fruit?
God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
(John 4:24)
Having been blessed with the Spirit over five years ago, I frequently hear people refer to me as "A Religious Christian." I laugh now when I hear somebody describe me in this manner. As one of my scientifically-trained friends might say, that description of me 'isn't even wrong' (my learned friend would be referring to the legendary physicist Wolfgang Pauli, who described scientific theories that were grossly incomplete as being 'not even wrong').
Now, I know plenty of people that could be described as 'Religious Christians.' I prefer to think of myself as "A spiritual man who follows Christ." I believe there is a profound difference between a religious person and somebody who is spiritual.
How can we tell the difference between a religious person and a spiritual person? Well, there are many ways, but there is one sure way: Examine the heart and look for the Spiritual fruit. How much fruit do you see in the heart? Religious people have very little Spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22-23). They know the commandments and the laws, just like the Pharisees did over two thousand years ago. Some of them can quote Scripture a mile a minute and make your head spin. They will dazzle you with their knowledge of the Bible. Some religious people can pray powerful prayers.
However, when you look under the hood so to speak and examine a heart, you see a religious heart lacks the very thing that Jesus said would differentiate his disciples from everybody else - the presence of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. That is, the fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23)
As Paul told the Galatians, a group of people who insisted on following Christ and Judaic law: 'against such things [the fruit of the Spirit] there is no law.' (Galatians 5:23)
Religious people don't have much Spiritual fruit in their hearts. If fact, when you examine their hearts closely, what you are more likely to see are things like shame, guilt, apathy, grief, fear, anger and pride. These are the kinds of things that fill people's hearts with darkness and eclipse the Lord's light.
The Pharisees' hearts were overflowing with pride, fear and anger. Jesus took issue with them. He exposed their dark hearts. I encourage you to read what Jesus said to them in Matthew Chapter 23. One of my favorite lines from Matthew 23 is:
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. (Matthew 23:25-26).
The inside of the cup that Jesus is referring to is a metaphor for our hearts. Our hearts are the inside of the cup. The Pharisees looked clean on the outside, but their hearts were filthy. They were filled with darkness. Jesus told them to purify their hearts first, and by doing this, they would be clean on the outside.
Religion is about how things appear on the outside. Religious people look holy and clean when they go to church, but their hearts are dark. A spiritual person may not look holy and they may not even go to church, but when you examine their hearts, you see abundant Spiritual fruit. That's a sure sign Christ is inside. They are the Church. "Christ inside our hearts" - that's how T. Austin Sparks defined Christianity. That's what it is all about!
Recall that it was the high priest who spat in Jesus' face and ordered him to be put to death (Matthew 26:65-67). A heart filled with love and other Spiritual fruit doesn't spit in somebody's face. Self-control and kindness are fruit of the Spirit.
Author John Eldredge made a great observation in his terrific book "Waking the Dead." Eldredge said: "Religion and its defenders have always been the most insidious enemy of true faith precisely because they are not glaring opponents; they are impostors."
Impostors! 'Religious Christians' are impostors of Christ. That's precisely what my heart tells me. 'Religious Christians' know things about Jesus - perhaps even a great many things - but they don't know Him. He is not in their hearts. They have little or no Spiritual fruit.
Now perhaps you can see why I laugh when somebody calls me a 'Religious Christian.' That's the last thing I would ever want to be!
May Christ and His love reign supreme in your heart always and everywhere.
Agape,
Steve
(John 4:24)
Having been blessed with the Spirit over five years ago, I frequently hear people refer to me as "A Religious Christian." I laugh now when I hear somebody describe me in this manner. As one of my scientifically-trained friends might say, that description of me 'isn't even wrong' (my learned friend would be referring to the legendary physicist Wolfgang Pauli, who described scientific theories that were grossly incomplete as being 'not even wrong').
Now, I know plenty of people that could be described as 'Religious Christians.' I prefer to think of myself as "A spiritual man who follows Christ." I believe there is a profound difference between a religious person and somebody who is spiritual.
How can we tell the difference between a religious person and a spiritual person? Well, there are many ways, but there is one sure way: Examine the heart and look for the Spiritual fruit. How much fruit do you see in the heart? Religious people have very little Spiritual fruit (Galatians 5:22-23). They know the commandments and the laws, just like the Pharisees did over two thousand years ago. Some of them can quote Scripture a mile a minute and make your head spin. They will dazzle you with their knowledge of the Bible. Some religious people can pray powerful prayers.
However, when you look under the hood so to speak and examine a heart, you see a religious heart lacks the very thing that Jesus said would differentiate his disciples from everybody else - the presence of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. That is, the fruit of the Spirit. (Galatians 5:22-23)
As Paul told the Galatians, a group of people who insisted on following Christ and Judaic law: 'against such things [the fruit of the Spirit] there is no law.' (Galatians 5:23)
Religious people don't have much Spiritual fruit in their hearts. If fact, when you examine their hearts closely, what you are more likely to see are things like shame, guilt, apathy, grief, fear, anger and pride. These are the kinds of things that fill people's hearts with darkness and eclipse the Lord's light.
The Pharisees' hearts were overflowing with pride, fear and anger. Jesus took issue with them. He exposed their dark hearts. I encourage you to read what Jesus said to them in Matthew Chapter 23. One of my favorite lines from Matthew 23 is:
Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean. (Matthew 23:25-26).
The inside of the cup that Jesus is referring to is a metaphor for our hearts. Our hearts are the inside of the cup. The Pharisees looked clean on the outside, but their hearts were filthy. They were filled with darkness. Jesus told them to purify their hearts first, and by doing this, they would be clean on the outside.
Religion is about how things appear on the outside. Religious people look holy and clean when they go to church, but their hearts are dark. A spiritual person may not look holy and they may not even go to church, but when you examine their hearts, you see abundant Spiritual fruit. That's a sure sign Christ is inside. They are the Church. "Christ inside our hearts" - that's how T. Austin Sparks defined Christianity. That's what it is all about!
Recall that it was the high priest who spat in Jesus' face and ordered him to be put to death (Matthew 26:65-67). A heart filled with love and other Spiritual fruit doesn't spit in somebody's face. Self-control and kindness are fruit of the Spirit.
Author John Eldredge made a great observation in his terrific book "Waking the Dead." Eldredge said: "Religion and its defenders have always been the most insidious enemy of true faith precisely because they are not glaring opponents; they are impostors."
Impostors! 'Religious Christians' are impostors of Christ. That's precisely what my heart tells me. 'Religious Christians' know things about Jesus - perhaps even a great many things - but they don't know Him. He is not in their hearts. They have little or no Spiritual fruit.
Now perhaps you can see why I laugh when somebody calls me a 'Religious Christian.' That's the last thing I would ever want to be!
May Christ and His love reign supreme in your heart always and everywhere.
Agape,
Steve
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