The Fruit of the Spirit - Or Spiritual Fruitcakes

Now before ya'll get all panicked thinking that I'm hoping we can all just get along and put up with every doctrine that's preached everywhere........ I haven't said or implied that we all have to go join the Ecumenical movement and put practicing gay preachers in the pulpit or put up with "a different gospel." I guess what I am saying is that there are true believers, washed by the blood of Jesus, in many different groups. We don't need to sit around running them down or preaching against all the different groups, as in, "Those charismatics!" , or "those legalistic fundamentalists ", etc.

We need to watch OUR lives & doctrine carefully, not those whom we have no responsibility for or to.


If 'Jane christian' down the street speaks in tongues and I think that is a gift that has ceased, I can still love her & know her by the fruit of the Spirit in her life. The fruit of the Spirit isn't speaking OR not speaking in tongues. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, and faith. Hmmm....did I leave anything out?

If 'Born-again Susie' at Corner Post Independant Baptist believes that we should only use the King James Version and I think that's crazy, that also is an opportunity to love part of the body of Christ. Again, the evidence of the Spirit isn't using or not using the KJV only, it is love, joy,peace, etc.

If we think someone within our realm of responsibility or influence (within our 'church' or someone we're discipling or are friends with) has gotten into some wacky doctrine or some 'new' revelation that 'tickles listening ears', then I believe it is our responsibility to confront it as long as we can do so with scripture. But the wholesale 'flogging' of this group or that, is not befitting the body of Christ. i.e., I am not a Rick Warren groupie but I have seen people verbally burn him at the stake for being a heretic. I would venture a guess that most of the people I've seen do this haven't really read or listened to more than a sound bite or two of his stuff, if that. I don't agree with every word that comes out of his mouth, but I am certain that he believes in salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ alone. Rick Warren doesn't fellowship with me, nor is he part of the local expression of the body of Christ where I live. So why do I need to tear down his ministry? I think some of us will have a lot of 'splaining to do' when we stand before the Lord due to our treatment of other believers who didn't quite line up with our understanding of scripture.

We're not enemies. We serve the same Jesus.

I had the unfortunate displeasure of listening to a certain preacher at a certain campmeeting via the internet. His whole message was pretty much tearing down other believers. None of his complaints were biblically black and white things. He had a problem with:

1)Men who preached without a suit and tie. (definitely the apparel of the apostles, don't you think?)

2)Women who wore cullottes or pants -He said a skimpy bikini was better than pants because women wearing pants takes leadership away from the man in the home. Alrighty then. (Again, if you believe that God would only have you wear dresses, that is between you and the Father....but his argument for it was nowhere near biblical-he didn't even attempt a scripture and the skimpy bikini is pretty blatantly not modest apparel and my wearing of modest pants certainly hasn't taken away from my husband's authority in this home nor my father's in his)

3)People who read anything other than the KJV --He put the NIV in a group along with a sexually transmitted disease, mickey mouse, a lethal pesticide, and a few other things that I can't remember nor do I want to. (However you come down on the side of the KJV only argument---I'm not sure I'd want to stand before God having called a translation of His word the equivalent of a venerial disease.)

4)Preaching without a pulpit---Oh, Is THAT why they stoned Stephen?

5) Church not looking like a church--with carpet and a pulpit ---HUH? Last I checked, the church looked like a group of people, not a building with crosses and pulpits. I wonder if the persecuted church in China or Albania is deterred from worshipping by lack of a 'churchy' looking building. I have this feeling they're a little more concerned about intimacy with the Father or who is knocking on the door to arrest them than they are about having carpeting to worship on.

6) Christians who use projectors & screens instead of hymnals. (Wow is all I can say to that one)

So you see, he wasn't talking about defending the deity of Christ or preaching against someone saying we have to earn our way to heaven. He was angrily ranting about his preferences.

I don't give this gentleman's name or location because I don't want to tear him down publicly .....I only use this as an illustration. I have to be careful, too. When I first started blogging, there were people I wanted to go toe to toe with over a few issues but God spoke to me about that through many verses in Proverbs.

When we turn our guns on each other over preferences, we cease to show the fruit of the Spirit and start acting like......you got it!........ spiritual fruitcakes.

The Peril of Seeking Truth

"I know that most men, including those at ease with problems of the greatest complexity, can seldom accept even the simplest and most obvious truth if it be such as would oblige them to admit the falsity of conclusions which they have delighted in explaining to colleagues, which they have proudly taught to others, and which they have woven, thread by thread, into the fabric of their lives."

--Leo Tolstoy

I thought this was an amazing observation. I have found it, unfortunately, to be pathetically accurate as I have walked through my journey of seeing what God's Word says about the church.

I've spent most of my adult life propping up the failed(in my humble opinion) system we call "church" that really shouldn't even be a system, but a people. I guess I've questioned its weaknesses (not the Church, the system) from early on in my marriage but always wanted to improve on what was there....being scared (for lack of a better word) to really think some of the things I've come to embrace in the last 6 months or so.

My dh and I have found tremendous freedom in our decision to spend more time with the church rather than attend meetings in a building. However, the one peril to seeking the truth is letting anybody else in on the journey. When we left our "church", we left quietly, sowing no discord or hard feelings, and keeping our opinions on the state of the church pretty much to ourselves. On a few occasions we have been either pushed to give our opinion or views on these church matters, or it has naturally come up in conversation with close (or so we thought) friends. In at least three of these instances, the reaction to our views was defensive at best, and bitter, hostile, and nasty at worst. Mind you, neither of us has had any particular desire to convince anyone that we are 'right' on all of this. Some of these conversations were just musing aloud....trying to get others' takes on the whole thing, seeing how they saw certain things in the Word. We like what we are experiencing and we think this is what God desires for us. We don't have any desire to push our views on anyone, or tell anybody that they're wrong. We don't believe the Christian walk is a cookie-cutter ordeal. One-size-fits-all just doesn't cut it in the church. Hallelujah!

Anyway, if you're on the same journey we're on, just be prepared. I suppose we knew that this stuff would happen, but we just didn't expect such hostility from some or blind denial from others. So expect it......but don't give up seeking what God wants for you and how He wants you to function as the church.

It's Sunday, and the church went to Starbucks

I know this little part of the church had a great morning eating breakfast down in the village with my daughter and my husband, enjoying a quick trip into Starbucks, then spending some time in the park on the playscape and wading in the river. It was about 70 degrees out with a slight breeze. No one had to nudge me to keep me awake, my stomach wasn't growling waiting for a service to get over, I wandered in and out of quiet conversation with the Lord about my husband and his employment prospects, some of my kids who aren't home today, the people next to me in Starbucks, and a friend who is very ill. My thoughts of the Word weren't on a preprinted handout. I believe that my relationship with the Lord is more down-to-earth and real than ever before and I don't set aside a big portion of time to "be with the Lord" these days. I am with Him every minute, and I'm enjoying "practicing" that presence.

A Missed Opportunity, A Lesson Learned

The other day, my dh and I plopped down in two of the four cushy chairs in the local Starbucks to play Scrabble. The shop started to fill up about halfway through our game when a woman (late thirties) walked in with her 12-year-old son. She bought him the beverage of his choice as well as choosing one for herself. How special! They meandered over by us to the other two comfy chairs near the front of the store. As soon as the kid's keister hit the chair, mommy dearest laced into him about screwing up at school. Now....don't get me wrong....we all make mistakes and our unsanctified selves will blurt out something awful or we'll be too harsh, etc., but this was WAY over the top. She went up one side and down the other in front of everyone at Starbucks and well within earshot of many of them. The humiliated subject would occasionally try to flee and she would raise her voice and tell him to get back and sit down. Finally, he could take it no more and he left.

Now, I was sitting in my cushy chair, minding my own business, laying down my Scrabble pieces, praying for this woman and her son, and asking God how I should handle this situation. After the boy left, I quietly approached the woman and asked if I could pray with her for her son, and asked if I could help or if she wanted to talk. We went to the back of Starbucks, prayed together, and had a really nice conversation.

YEAH, RIGHT!!!!! That is, unfortunately, what I WISH had transpired. Instead, I sat there the whole time muttering under my breath, thinking of sarcastic things I could say to her. When she finally left, I said, "what a jerk", probably loud enough for her to hear. I was so angry at what she was doing to this kid in public, that I completely missed an opportunity to treat this woman like Jesus would have. It was a good reminder to me. The next morning I thought of how I should have handled it. I am praying for another opportunity to run into this woman at Starbucks again. This time I'll be ready. This time I'll pray.

Colossians 4:4-6
4Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. 5Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. 6Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone.