fruit

what does a free sample of Jesus look like?

/ nukelearfishing67 / 3 Comments
Hair Pieces 77

Free samples of hair pieces. NO COMMENTS PLEASE!

Regular bloggists among you will know that I often refer to Christians (and churches) as ‘free samples of Jesus’. It was pointed out to me today that I have never really said exactly what I mean by that, so this bloggage is an attempt to rectify that…

In essence what I mean is that as God’s Spirit works in us he changes us. It’s often subtle, sometimes dramatic, but the changes make us a little bit more like Jesus. We become a bit more loving, slightly more inclusive, a smidgeon more gracious… and a bit less intolerant, slightly less religious, a smidgeon less irritable. There are a lot more ways in which we are changed. The Bible shows us a contrast between old us and renewed us:

19 The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 25 Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. 26 Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

That’s from Galatians 5. Part of being free samples of Jesus is that aspects of our life that used to be in the first list are diminishing and those that are in the second list are increasing as God’s Spirit acts in our life. I often think that the second list is a good summary of the character of Jesus, so if those things are being enhanced in us we are becoming better free samples of him to those around us. It happens in us as we ‘keep in step’ with God’s Spirit. Following Jesus is not just an idea, a concept, or a philosophy – it is a way of life. It has implications for every area of our life.

What it actually looks like will be different for each of us, and the same for all of us. It will be different because we all have different experiences, meet people in different places, and have to respond and react to different circumstances. But it will be the same because we are asking God’s Spirit to help us to emulate Jesus in those experiences, with those people and in response to those circumstances.

A free sample of Jesus might respond to someone who cuts them up in their car by smiling and offering a quick ‘bless you’ prayer rather than gesticulating and complaining.

A free sample of Jesus might receive angry criticism with gentle grace and pray for the person who is so angry.

A free sample of Jesus might offer to work extra unpaid hours at work sometimes in response to the boss reducing the length of their lunch break to increase productivity.

A free sample of Jesus might cook a meal for someone else without wanting or expecting anything in return.

A free sample of Jesus might well not only be nice to those who are nice to them, but will seek to bless everyone – perhaps especially those who are cruel to them.

A while back there was a flurry of activity selling wristbands with WWJD (What Would Jesus Do?) on them, and I have wondered if all I am doing is re-packaging that. Perhaps, but you may be able to discern in the examples above that I have tried to take Jesus’ teaching and examples from his life and apply them to 21st Century living. To be a good free sample of Jesus means that we have to know what he is like in order to emulate him. If you want to be like him, starting finding out about him…

Be blessed, be a blessing

middle of the road

/ nukelearfishing67 / Leave a comment

This week I am preparing some sessions for a Church day away on Saturday. We will be looking at the Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23), so that is in my mind at the moment.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

We are told that we should consume at least 5 portions of fruit and vegetables a day as part of a healthy diet. Spiritually speaking we cannot bear the 9 different sorts of fruit unless we have consumed that too. We cannot give what we have not received.

[mixed metaphor alert]

middle of the roadThere is an old joke about a man who was speeding at 100mph down the middle of the road. When stopped by the police he said that he was simply obeying what it said on his driving licence: “tear along the dotted line.”

The joke may be corny, but the middle of the road is sometimes the best place to be. Sometimes I have swerved to one side of the road and driven into the ditch: speaking of these as a set of self-improvement targets: attributes to work hard at. At other times, in order to avoid that ditch I have swerved too far off the other side of the road and suggested that as this is God’s work we can’t do anything to cultivate them. But while both are true, the right course is down the middle between them.

We need to pay our part in the process, but it is God’s Spirit at work in us who bears the fruit. We can no more force ourselves to be more loving than a gardener can force a plant to bear fruit. But (like a gardener) we can make sure that we are ready to bear fruit, we can tend the soil, we can ask God to change us, especially where we are particularly deficient.

A couple of verses further on Paul urges us to ‘keep in step with the Spirit.’ We tend the soil by our intention to walk closely with God, to live by his rhythm, consciously to align ourselves with him, prayerfully to listen to him and follow closely. Keeping in step means that we are in close contact, our lives are prayerful, our Bibles are well-worn, we see all that we do as an act of worship to Jesus.

Be blessed, be a blessing.