Fruit and the (Toilet) Bowl

 

Someone recently sent me this picture and it made me think about my life as a christian. (Not that way!! Read on!) This is a picture of a public toilet located on a street in Houston ... in public view. The walls of the toilet are two-way mirrors. You can see out but no one can see in.

Most of us like our privacy. It is hard for us to be ourselves especially around folks we don’t know. When we are aware that people are noticing us, we tend to put on masks that make us what we want people to think we are, or what we think they want us to be. We all have, to some extent, multiple personalities. We are a different person to the people who live in our house, than the person who works at the drive-thru. We are different at a basketball game than at a gravesite.

I was sitting and talking with a group of pastors not long ago. As I listened they began to talk of a pastor at a very large well respected church. They spoke of a situation where the pastor of that church reacted to a situation in a very unchristian way. It definitely made a impression on those who were there and I could tell that the opinion of that pastor had definitely changed the way the people at table felt about him.

A few years ago there was a song that became very popular by the artist Cyndi Lauper. The song was call True Colors. Part of the chorus goes like this, 

“But I see your true colors
Shining through
I see your true colors
And that's why I love you
So don't be afraid to let them show”

We use the phrase “true colors” when we talk about seeing who a person really is, or when we see someone’s true character. It is when the truth of a person’s inner qualities or values manifest itself. Circumstances that put pressure on us tend to bring out our true colors. Peterson writes, in the Message Bible, in Matthew the twelfth chapter:

It's your heart, not the dictionary, that gives meaning to your words. A good person produces good deeds and words season after season. An evil person is a blight on the orchard.

Again in the Bible we read:

Matthew 7:16-18

You can tell what they are by what they do. No one picks grapes or figs from thornbushes. A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit.

By giving our hearts to Christ we are, in essence, asking Him to change the kind of tree we are. Prior to salvation we did not have the option of producing good fruit. We weren’t that kind of tree. We began to bear good fruit when we began to take on the nature of Christ. Christ is bearing good fruit through the character He produces in us.

After being saved we follow suite by being baptised. Baptism is a way of opening your fruit stand. In the ritual of baptism we are saying, publicly, “I am a christian now... come and take a look at my fruit.” We no longer have to “be afraid to let them show” because Christ is now producing His “ true colors” in us. 

Matthew 3:8 
Bring forth therefore fruits meet for repentance:

We like the privacy of being hidden in our own little worlds but if there are character flaws in us, our true colors will show. We should feel like someone sitting on that toilet, feeling totally exposed to the world, because we are, in effect, a constant show of His true colors. We are an advertisement to the world of who the Christ in us is. We tell people daily if christianity is real, and if it really can change lives. Every day, every contact we make, every word we speak, every action we take, may very well be viewed by someone who is questioning the legitimacy of christianity. Maybe that is part of the concept of Christ words when He said, “You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden.” (Matthew 5:14, see context) 

An old song says, “No man is an island. No man stands alone.” We are christians now, but we still are part of the whole of humanity ... and the answer for it. Unless we are a hermit, we are a continual reminder of Christ and how He can bring peace, joy, and forgiveness, and how He can renovate a life.

Someone once said that character is who you are, when you are all alone and no one sees you. That is character, but I submit that character is also the you who bleeds out, after being isolated, into a world that experiences who you are.

There is no two-way glass for the christian. Every person we meet becomes our fruit inspector. We will not bear good fruit if our roots are not deeply grounded in Christ and His pattern for our lives. We can hide, or put on mask, or build facades, but eventually our true colors show.

There are many people who wear the jersey but really aren’t on our team. They have learned how to play the game of Christianity. They have learned the words to say, the actions to take, but they are not able to bear good fruit because they are not that kind of tree. Eventually we catch a whiff of rotten fruit and see their true colors.

The world is looking for Jesus (whether they understand it or not) but the only one they will ever see is you and me. As christians, we are sitting there exposing ourselves to all who care to take a look. And when the world sees good fruit it gives people the notion that maybe there is a God, maybe He does care, and maybe there is hope for them.

I think, as followers of Christ, it is good for us to feel exposed. It is a reminder that we are constantly under the microscope of those around us. It doesn’t have to make us feel uncomfortable though, when the fruit we bear is good fruit.

So ask God to help you see your character flaws. Maybe you should ask people close to you what they think your true colors are, and deal with the reality of their answers. God is about empowering us to change. And if you become firmly rooted in Him, you cannot help but produce good things.

As God begins to produce good fruit through you, you will not be negatively affected by people looking on. Then you have the confidence to ... (I have to say it) Go... into all the world...

A Slice of Pie.

Life is like a pie. We have a whole one and claim most of it, as our own, when we are young. As we grow older we begin to cut our pie up into pieces and hand it out. One slice to our employer, a slice to our children and spouse, a slice to those to whom we owe money... and so on... and so on. The pie slowly and surely gets eaten up.

What is in the life-pie? It is made up of all that we are and all that we do. The pie is filled with chunks of the fruit of who we are and what we have, floating in a rich gel of what we value. It is all held together in a crust of what we do. The pie is what we produce and why we produce it.

Like any pie, the purpose is not for it to decorate our homes by leaving pies in silver tins sitting around the house, and standing from afar and admiring it’s beauty. No! We don’t bake pies to beautify our homes. Pie is to be eaten. Pie is to be served! The joy of pie is in the experience and sensation of the taste it provides and often it’s joy is found in the fulfillment of sharing it. Many of us know the pure joy there is in hearing someone say, “Wow! That was delicious!” We have felt the warmth of sitting across the table with a steaming cup of java and sharing a piece of pie with a friend. There in those few minutes pie is more than pie, it becomes part of a moment and it’s value becomes much greater than any recipe could describe or tongue could taste.

This pie of life is ours, it was given for us to hold but it’s worth it is really not found in the recipe or what we have still in the pan but in how much of it we give away. 

Many times we sit down and look at the pie. We hold the knife in our hands and calculate how to divvy out the pieces. There are people who are demanding pieces, to which we must oblige. There are things that need more pie than others, but we still understand there is only one pie. It troubles us that perhaps when all is said and done, there will not be a piece on our plate.  

Unlike real pie, the pieces of the pie of life can be changed. The pieces can be made larger or smaller. Once plated they can be taken back and adjusted. But we are still confronted with the whole. We have only one pie and how to cut it, or re-cut it is the challenge. The bigger the piece we give to one, constitutes that a smaller piece will be given to another. There is only one pie. Cutting pie is the dilemma of life. There never seems to be enough pie.

So what is the secret of pie cutting, when everyone is hungry, and there is a line around the block for a share? How do we stretch a pie? We can’t bake another one. So what do we do? 

Jesus at one point had possibly thousands of followers. He chose twelve. There were times when Jesus took just three aside. Someone once said that Jesus knew how to “take from the rest to give to the best.” Maybe this is the secret to pie cutting. There is not enough pie for everything in your life. So, there comes a time, with knife in hand, for value-calls. How can you give pie to the best? 

When we invest our money we spend time looking for the place that we can get the best return on our investment. But when we invest our lives, do we ask the same questions? Do we invest our lives, or spend our lives? Spending seldom is about return. It seldom looks out and sees long-term goals or is concerned with the impact it makes. We can nickle and dime our lives away and suddenly realize that our resources (our pieces) are gone and we have nothing to show for it. Investing, on the other hand, show an increase. 

Jesus gave an example of how God looks at investment. (see Matthew 25:14-30) I think this story illustrates what God wants to happen in our lives. He expects a return for what He has given us. How do we get that return? If you read on to the end of the chapter, I think He answers this question. In so many words, Jesus boils this down to, not so much the return on the investment, but that the investment was made. Jesus notes in these passages how valuable it is to God that we invest.

Your pie, my pie, is all we have to invest. I can let it sit on the counter until it is green with mold and stinks of rotted fruit or I can hand it out. And who gets it. That is where the investment part comes in. The pie goes where it gives the greatest return... it goes to the best. What is the best? By reading the scriptures we can begin to see what God thinks are valuable investments. Jesus tells us (Matthew 6:19-21) that we can invest in things that we see are important or things that God sees are important.

So, look at your pie. Who is getting a piece? Maybe you should even sit down with a piece of paper and draw out your pie. Label the pieces and honestly access which pieces are investments and which are being wasted. (Perhaps divide it like a clock and see the time you invest in certain areas.) As you look at the pieces, notice how big the pieces are that are labeled “service to God,” “kingdom work,” “helping people in my world,” “my children and family,” ”devotional time,” “time given to the church.” As you survey your pie, you will begin to see, not only who is getting a piece, and if you are giving it away, but also, what kind of pie you have.

If your pie is about how many pieces you have for yourself, then you and God have a very different understanding what this pie, this life, is about. Realize, though, that at anytime you can reshape the pieces. You may have to tell somethings, or someone that they don’t get pie. You may have to make the pieces smaller so that others can have larger pieces. The pie is your to serve.

As time goes on our pie gets smaller. We have less to give. The pieces become more valuable and giving what is left more important. 

So who and what is tasting your pie? Ask yourself this hard question, ask for God’s revelation and help... and take out the knife and start cutting.

And what about all those things in life that demand a piece but really don’t need it? Let them eat cake!

The Act of Love... and Prayer

Does God answer every prayer? I have always heard that He did, but recently I have began to understand how there may be positions where God does not (or cannot) answer a prayer. Before you clinch your fist and cry out, “heresy,” hear me out.

There is a particular scripture in the Bible that has been somewhat of a mystery (it was to me) to those who read it. The story it is connected with and the context itself overshadows the power of the meaning of it’s words. Beyond that, some have guessed it’s meaning to be purely the statement of the words themselves and failed to go deeper into it’s real significance. I like the way it is worded in the Contemporary English Version:

Matthew 16:19 (CEV)

I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven, and God in heaven will allow whatever you allow on earth. But he will not allow anything that you don't allow.

I, most likely, will blog about this scripture later because of the great truth found in it, but for our current subject let me just give a brief explanation of it’s meaning. The scripture is making reference to the responsibility that we hold in the Kingdom. God is giving us the “keys” to accomplish His work. Christ is saying here, that we are in charge of doing heavenly work here on earth. Should we choose not to accomplish a work, God will not come down out of heaven and do it for us. The work of the kingdom is ours. Even Jesus told us that, in some of His last words, that we would receive power to accomplish His work. (see Acts 1:8) When we pray or do kingdom work we are setting in motion God’s work. By placing the work in our hands, God is, in fact, telling us that whatever is accomplished in His kingdom will come through the channel of human intervention. The gospel message is one good example: God will not preach His own message but has determined that, in order for it to be spread, mankind must be involved. (more to come.)

Understanding this concept of God’s plan leads us to understanding that God is very serious about our role in His work. Our involvement in the fulfillment of His strategy is not only His wish, but is detrimental to the success He wants. 

Prayer is a most vital part of accomplishing God’s plan. His way is that we take things to Him in prayer and expect things to change because we pray. And yet God’s blueprint is not drawn only with the supports of prayer. His design is also the work of our hands. It is often that we as Christian’s can easily miss God’s will by praying for it, but doing nothing about it. If we are truly honest with ourselves, we find it easier to pray and expect divine intervention than actually allowing God to use us to accomplish His will. It is much simpler to pray for God to feed my neighbor than to take him groceries.

We often tell others that we will pray for them and somehow think that we have settled the debt of love we owe them. (see Romans 13:8) It makes us feel as though, somehow, we have caused the work of God to be done because we prayed, and that our love is demonstrated in that few moments of calling someone’s name in intercession. We convince ourselves that God is pleased and seldom evaluate whether the need was met.

This is the prayer that God cannot/will not answer ... because the answer is not prayer. God’s will is to use us as vessels of love, not spilling out just words of charity, not spilling out just petitions for needs, but spilling over everyone in our lives actions of agape love. Many times, the answer to pray is not what God will do, but what we must to do. God cannot answer when we are His answer and we refuse to accomplish the deed.

The fact is that prayer is the easy way out. It becomes even easier when we recognize the energy we put into my prayers. How often do we labor for someone’s need in prayer. How often do we find ourselves spending hours battling for someone, wrestling like Jacob, in order to know that we have prayed the prayer of faith. So often we fail to connect with the needs of people we pray for. Someone’s mother is dying with cancer and is now in hospice and we diminish our “Christian” care, our passion for healing, to a few incidental words that take mere seconds to speak. We walk away from our short plea feeling as though we have done a great thing for God and for others.

Pray is not a substitute for love. Jesus said:

John 13:34

A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

Love each other as Christ loved us? How did Christ love us? Was His love based on prayers for us, or was there more? Did His love move Him to action, even to death on a cross? Yes! The love of Jesus was a love that drove Him beyond words to demonstration. The love that Christ knew for us was a love that was, at the least, inconvenient for him. Christ moved, by His compassion for us, did things that took Him beyond words or prayers, to the point of giving. His love didn’t stop at the Mount of the Beatitudes with words of blessing: “Blessed are....” But, He blessed!

In the book of James we read:

James 2:14-20 (The Message)

Dear friends, do you think you'll get anywhere in this if you learn all the right words but never do anything? Does merely talking about faith indicate that a person really has it? For instance, you come upon an old friend dressed in rags and half-starved and say, "Good morning, friend! Be clothed in Christ! Be filled with the Holy Spirit!" and walk off without providing so much as a coat or a cup of soup—where does that get you? Isn't it obvious that God-talk without God-acts is outrageous nonsense? I can already hear one of you agreeing by saying, "Sounds good. You take care of the faith department, I'll handle the works department." Not so fast. You can no more show me your works apart from your faith than I can show you my faith apart from my works. Faith and works, works and faith, fit together hand in glove.Do I hear you professing to believe in the one and only God, but then observe you complacently sitting back as if you had done something wonderful? That's just great. Demons do that, but what good does it do them? Use your heads! Do you suppose for a minute that you can cut faith and works in two and not end up with a corpse on your hands?

Love is the arms of our faith. The operation of love is often the answer to our own prayers. God answers prayer through us. Are there cases where He must divinely intervene? Of course! Can we heal? No, but does God say to lay our hands on the sick? Can I travel around the world to put something in the hands of a missionary? No, but can I pull out my wallet and place a check in a mission’s envelope? Can I stop the grass from growing? No, but I can cut it for a neighbor who has a broken leg.

Real love cannot not be condensed to words. Words seldom impact lives. Love will call us to do things that will not be convenient, that will not be comfortable, and will demand that we give what is hard to give. Love will ask you to sacrifice more than prayers. God’s design for us to love is a call to duty, to sweat, to tears, to toil, and even to pain. Love is described by these very things, not verbal expressions of care or even prayers of concern.

So, am I saying to stop praying? No, our works are supported by our faith. (see James 2:18, above) We are commissioned to pray. Intercession is a God-given tool. Prayer is of great value to God. Prayer is that vehicle that God chose to allow us to express our faith in Him and our desire for His will. Pray can change things that cannot be changed without it. But the greatest commandment is not “pray!” The greatest duty of man doesn’t take place on bended knee, but the action of the hand! That is produced by the heart.

God’s love is not the fulfillment of His plan. His intent becomes complete when His love is poured through us to transform our world. The “key” is what we allow to happen because of the labor of our love.

Pray for your world, but more importantly love it!

Ro 13:8 

Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

The Act of Love

Christianity seems to have evolved over the centuries into something that it was never intended to be. Little by little it has turned away from wearing the face of it’s author to having it’s own mask. At times it is barely recognizable to people who look on from inside and outside our ranks. We have changed from the essence of what we were to be. We have attached ourselves to a cold world and grown dark in our relationships.

Who are we suppose to be? What is the substance we are suppose to be made of? When all the superficial liquid of ritual, pretense, and religious noise are boiled away, what is supposed to left in the pot? What is the substance of being a Christian? I believe that once the man-made peripherals of Christianity are disconnected the very heart of Christianity can be exposed.  The very substance of who we are is really summed up in one word: love. Our commission is one of love. Our commandment is one of love. The example of our leader, that we are destined to follow, is one of love. The very basis of our conception comes from the union of a God and a humanity through the greatest act of ... love. 

The greatest commandment, as cited by Jesus, was to love. The fruit of the spirit begins with love. Scriptures tell us that without it we become just noise and we are nothing. (see I Corinthians 13) Even our God, our maker, the pentacle of what we strive to become, is described, seemingly in all that He is, by this one word: love.

The scriptures tell a love story, from the connection that God had with the first man, that comes to a head at the defining words of Jesus in John chapter three, verse sixteen. Through out the message of God’s word we see the development of the explanation of God’s character: love.

“God is love!”

We were made in the image of God. In understanding what is meant by being formed in His image, we understand that we were given character attributes like that of our Father. God chose to form us with these characteristics to echo who He was. Why? I think, in part, God was giving us tools that we would need to accomplish tasks He was to call us to complete. One of these image traits was the ability to love. No other creature, or any other part of creation, was given this rare gift; this unique ability.

We were given love as a channel to allow God to reveal Himself to mankind. God uses love in us as a conduit to express His concern for the human race. In turn, we become the arms of God that hold or hug, the face of God that smiles, the hands of God that help, and the heart of God that exudes compassion on those around us. Every action of the Christian becomes an reverberation of God’s love.

The act of love is a choice, though. Love does not seep out of us despite our choices. It doesn’t work that way. God chose to love us. (see Romans 5:8) W.E. Vine, says that God loved us even though we were, in essence, unlovable and undeserving. There was nothing in us that deserved the grace of God’s favor, brought about by His unconditional love. This, in a manner of words, forced God into a decision on how He would treat us. He chose to react to us in love, despite our sinful condition, our obstinate reaction to His authority, and our out-right refusal to obey His wishes or place value on His guidelines for our lives. God loved us by choice.

Though love is a choice. God doesn’t really give us the choice to love. (see John 13:34) Love is not optional. In part, because God placed this ability, this tool, to love within us with the purpose of using that conduit for His purpose. He want us to love because He wants to affect the lives of people. Loving people is the commandment of God that is underlined by Christ own words. (see Matthew 22, John 15:12)

Relationships are of great importance to God. The Ten Commandments are, simply put, about relationships. The first four commandments are about our relationship with our Maker. The last six about our relationship with man. The greatest two commandment according to Jesus (Matthew 22) was about our relationship to God and man. Jesus several times in scripture teaches us about forgiveness, servanthood, and reaching out to our fellow man (e.g. the Good Samaritan). All these things, among many others, point to how important relationships are to God. In the world of scripture relationships are driven by love. 

I think it is of great concern to meet people who claim God as Father, but obviously bear no semblance of His character. The bible talks about such folk.

1 John 3:17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in   

        need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?

When love is not part of our character, then one must suppose that we no longer have the character of God. When we turn off the flow of God’s love through us, we cease to be what we claim: Christian. When we restrict the flow of God’s love, then we become a useless tool in God’s hand.

Saying, “I love you” can become part of the ritual of religion. It is easy for the mouth to somehow validate our character by using the right catch-phrases. We can easily fool ourselves by equating words with actions. But the substance of love is the act. God so loved that he “gave.” (see John 3:16) God “demonstrated” His love for us. (see Romans 5:8) God authenticated His love by action. God’s love transpired in His giving. So should our love give proof by the action of our hands, rather than the word of our mouths. We must be very aware of the danger of talking love and supposing that somehow that is the fulfillment of God’s love and evokes God’s pleasure. By God’s definition love is a verb, not a feeling or a thought.

My measurement for love is what I do. It is not measured by the plans I make, the thoughts I think, or the air that I give. Love’s value and it’s quality is defined by the activity of my life. (see John 14:15) Even the result of my action or fruit it produces is not a correct meter for love.  

Learning to let God’s love radiate from us is the task of being Christian. It flies in the face of so many gestures we make that, we think, tell us that we are Christians. But the disciple of Christ is known by none of these things. He is known by his/her love. (see John 13:35)

There are billions of people on this earth that are looking for love. They are wanting to experience something from someone that is not selfish, self-centered, who does not have ulterior motives or conditional requirements. True love has none of those things. True love comes asking questions: “How can I help?” “What can I do?” “Where is there a need?” True love always turns outward and is not interested in personal gain, approval, or recognition. Our world, inside and outside the church, is looking for this kind of love.

Love must be. A cold world seeks the warmth of love. The glue that holds society, and the church, together is love. The inspiration that pushes us out of ourselves is love. Christianity cannot exist outside of love, for love is it’s lifeblood and it’s purpose. The description of who we are is found in love. The fingerprint of God on us is love. When love ceases then the work of God collapses and God’s presence ceases to exist on the earth.

1 John 3:16-20a (The Message)
This is how we've come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God's love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.When We Practice Real Love My dear children, let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love. This is the only way we'll know we're living truly, living in God's reality. ...