Rotten to the Core

Luke 6:43  "No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit."

This weekend Julie Garick heard a loud crash and looked out back to see one of their largest oak trees laying on the ground.  On a clear windless day, the tree broke about 20 feet above the ground and crashed into the ground literally crushing a cedar tree on the way down.  And that was it; seemingly one of the healthiest trees in their yard was turned into trash via chain saw and chipper.  Out of all trees, this tree broke.  Not the hickory with the cracked trunk.  Not the oak next to it with the odd disease lumps.  This apparently healthy tree failed in a massive explosive sound and perished.  The problem was a rotten core.  The tree functioned, made an expansive canopy of leaves, a massive crop of acorns, and most importantly provided deep shade to much of their backyard and ours as well.  Unbeknownst to us, it simply couldn't support the fruit of its own labor because of its own rotten core. 
We are no different.  Many of us are apparently successful in the worlds eyes.  We're healthy, attractive (well maybe many of you are), successful in our worldly endeavors, yet are overwhelmed with issues on the inside.  Sometimes our sin nature is obvious.  Obesity, for instance, is an obvious sin that all can view.  Other sins can also be obvious such as drunkenness, adultery, etc.  Many times, however, the true expanse of our sin nature isn't visible and what might be we work hard to hide.  Often our sin is simply not following God.  We simply don't want to do His will so we choose a different path.  Regardless of the sin, whether known or in secret, scripture warns us that a bad tree bears bad fruit. 
In this passage I believe Jesus is saying that regardless of appearance, eventually our sin catches up with us.  Fruit for a Christian, as the name clearly states, is to live a life that resembles that of Christ, one dedicated to loving God and others which ultimately produces other Christians.  So the tragedy is the antithesis:  "Christians" who bear no fruit are simply not influencing others around them to become Christians.  I pray that I don't get to heaven and find out that my coworkers, or worse members of my family, aren't in heaven because of rottenness in my own core. 

Perspective

Psalms 42: 1b As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.

Wow.  What a whirlwind the last 4 weeks has been!  It started with a work trip to Hawaii that included Reja and Kerianne followed by two trips to Starkville to see Ryan and watch MSU play.  As I think back and pour through pictures, I pause to count my many blessings:  I've snorkeled with turtles in Hawaii, walked nature trails through tropical rain forests to a picture-perfect waterfall, tailgated in StarkVegas, watched MSU play football twice (and win big once - not bad for us), all with my favorite people on the planet.  Wow.  How many people can say they've done all that in four short weeks? 
Yesterday we accompanied Ryan to First United Methodist Church in Starkville.  As the first song kicked off, I felt a strange sensation, one akin to that first sip of cool water after a long hot day of work.  Satisfaction, joy, and peace overwhelmed me in a way that it had not during all of those world-class events.  I was where I needed to be at that moment and I knew it.  I don't recall the last time I went four weeks in a row without a corporate worship experience, but I was really surprised at just how thirsty I had become.  Truly my soul longed after God and His people.  While it was one of the most simple services I've been to with four songs, (with an offering during the last one) and a fairly straightforward (and little bit long-winded), sermon wrapped up with a repeat of the the tag line from one of the songs, it was nevertheless one of the most needed in a while.  The feeling of fulfillment and contentment could not be achieved in any of the other activities despite the expenditure of time, effort, and funds.  Nothing could replace the stirring of the Spirit within. 
Often we critique the lay out of the service, the dedication of the participants and leaders, the quality of the music, and content and delivery of the sermon.  Sometimes a critique is necessary as things can be improved or people held accountable.  Yet I wonder how often we completely squelch the movement of the spirit and in so doing rob ourselves of the peace, joy, and contentment that flows from simply being aware of God's presence.  Yesterday's service wasn't world-class by any measure, but the contentment and peace I felt was palpable and outclassed any such feelings of the world-class events of the past four weeks.  There's a life-lesson here that I pray doesn't go unlearned. 

My Friend

As I sat there in peace and quiet,

I prayed for God to join my fight.

Across the table He sat and said,

“I am here with you my friend.”

“I can’t believe You call me friend,

When I am covered up with sin.”

“I do and soon you will see

That I am going so you can be free.”

“Please, oh please, do not go,

There will be pain, there will be blows.

The crowd will hate and they will kill.

Let me die, it is my will.

Agree with me, oh please, I begged

Do not go and become dead.”

“I must go for you my friend.”

It was His will, but it was not the end.

I cried for my terrible loss

And then again when I saw the cross.

Why for my sin did He want to pay?

Did not death win the day?

But there was an empty grave!

He had risen from the cave!

He did not die and lives today!

So His friends, like me, can live His way.

Woe to Me!

²⁵ “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. ²⁶ Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

²⁷ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of the bones of the dead and everything unclean. ²⁸ In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” – Matthew 23:25-28

These are powerful words from Jesus the Messiah, Son of the one true living God.  He directs them to the church leaders, those who were considered the best and most knowledgeable people regarding God’s Word and His ways.  Jesus describes their position in verse 2 saying they sit in Moses’ seat.  Jesus’ condemnation in this chapter is incredibly strong and confronting to these leaders.

I am forced to wonder, how are they not convicted?  How do they not see in their heart what He is saying to them?  Or do they see it and refuse it?  Jesus undoubtedly spoke in the Spirit of God so I believe they knew the conviction, but chose to reject it and believe they knew better.  They found a way to crucify Him so they would have no more to do with Him.  I know people like this.  They know what He says, they reject it, and they crucify anyone who does not reject it if they are in their life.  They will have nothing to do with truth.  I shudder in fear over their position under God.

On Friday a very large oak tree fell in our backyard.  It was a perfectly clear blue sky day with virtually no wind.  The tree broke about 20 feet above the ground and crushed a cedar tree on the way down.  The tree was completely full in leaves and acorns.  It looked in every way to be the healthiest tree in the yard.  But it wasn’t.  The inside core of the tree from the roots up to about 25 feet was rotten.  The top was healthy, but the trunk couldn’t support it because it was rotten on the inside. 

This is a perfect example of those who believe they’ve got the world fooled and they do everything they can to create a perception of who they want people to believe they are.  They would have everyone believe they are perfectly healthy while they are rotten on the inside.  Personally, I know this is me.  My best hope is to read, pray, and have my wife, kids, and really close Christian brothers as close to me as I can get them so they can help me see when I’m getting more rotten.  I've got a sin disease and I know it.  A sure sign of a rotting heart is one who does not want anyone close to it.  They fear that anyone close will see what is inside.  By keeping those who love you the most as close as possible and believing them when they talk to you is one of the most important accountability measures we can take to keep us walking on the path.  Ultimately, it is Jesus and Him alone who keeps us, but we can set up a “prevent defense” in football parlance to make good choices.

A rotten core will eventually fall, no matter how wonderful and full the perception and appearance is on the outside.  Regardless of where we might think others are, it is enough for us to make sure that we know our foundation is set upon the steady rock that does not move and the most beautiful healthy part of us is on the inside where Jesus is dwelling.

No Joy

So it took exactly 18 minutes for me to be able to even open this page today.  I felt compelled to right on our source of joy being God, not our own self-generated ideas of how to make ourselves happy.  From my perspective when we think about what will bring us happiness, we are inwardly focused on ourselves.  When I was younger, happiness was found when I wasn't in trouble with my parents.  In others words it was easier to simply do what they wanted me to do and everybody was happy, happy, happy.  I believe God works similarly.  When our focus is on Him and others, we are truly content. 
Well, no joy.  Off to work.
ugh.  Gotta wipe computer and start over.

In the Pain

There is much thought and study on how Christians are to handle pain and suffering.  Many writers believe that it is in that pain and suffering that a deeper relationship of Jesus is found.  Tim Keller is one such writer and authored the book Walking with God through Pain and Suffering. 

Pain and suffering seem to be an unavoidable path in life.  However, our view of that pain and suffering might very well change the pain and suffering to not be pain and suffering.  Mr. Keller remarks to this, “No matter what precautions we take, no matter how well we have put together a good life, no matter how hard we have worked to be healthy, wealthy, comfortable with friends and family, and successful with our career — something will inevitably ruin it.”  By ruin it, the idea is it is ruined by our standards.  God’s standard may not see it as ruined at all, but simply shaped so we can see a deeper portion of Him.  I’ve mentioned before that once you have had to depend upon Jesus and Him alone because you had nothing left to hold onto and only Jesus is the answer or everything falls apart, you know faith.  The miracle happens in you and around you.  Mr. Keller adds, “You don’t really know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.”  I believe it is God’s full intention for every believer to know Him in this way.  Everyone’s path is their own.

Certainly once we become aware of our sins we enter into some pain and suffering as our hearts are broken over our filth.  We become desperate in our dark condition.  However, until we enter into this conviction we cannot see our need for a Savior.  We do not see Jesus as our only hope and as a light in a dark world.  It is in the pain and suffering of our broken heart that we see the greatest light and are filled upon believing in Him with His own Spirit and completed.  The brokenness is necessary.

Likewise, the pain and suffering we might be in at various times is necessary for God to show us the depth of a well that we would never experience otherwise.  Once we find it, the pain and suffering is so secondary to His presence at the well.  We find that we can only focus on Him.  Again, Mr. Keller writes, “Some suffering is given in order to chastise and correct a person for wrongful patterns of life (as in the case of Jonah imperiled by the storm), some suffering is given not to correct past wrongs but to prevent future ones (as in the case of Joseph sold into slavery), and some suffering has no purpose other than to lead a person to love God more ardently for himself alone and so discover the ultimate peace and freedom.”

I find that we reduce the glory of God so we can manage it.  But by doing so, we prevent ourselves from seeing the expanse of the hope we have in Him.  It IS more than anything we see, hear, touch, or feel in this world, no matter how difficult or painful.  “The most rapturous delights you have ever had — in the beauty of a landscape, or in the pleasure of food, or in the fulfillment of a loving embrace — are like dewdrops compared to the bottomless ocean of joy that it will be to see God face-to-face (1 John 3:1–3). That is what we are in for, nothing less. And according to the Bible, that glorious beauty, and our enjoyment of it, has been immeasurably enhanced by Christ’s redemption of us from evil and death.”

Therefore, knowing that whatever trial we are in and whatever the pain, God must be glorified because He loves us enough to make a way for us to see Him more clearly.  He desires for us to be our greatest and that can only be found in Him.  “It fits to glorify God — it not only fits reality, because God is infinitely and supremely praiseworthy, but it fits us as nothing else does. All the beauty we have looked for in art or faces or places — and all the love we have looked for in the arms of other people — is only fully present in God himself. And so in every action by which we treat him as glorious as he is, whether through prayer, singing, trusting, obeying, or hoping, we are at once giving God his due and fulfilling our own design.”

Lift your hearts Christian and glorify God wherever you are!  Look desperately for Him where you are and He will overwhelm your every sense so that all you know is Him.

The Spirit Alone

It is impossible to convince someone that they are sinning by yourself.  You, as a sinner, are an unworthy vehicle to transmit such a message.  A fellow standing in the mud can’t look at another fellow in the mud and say you are sinning.  The message simply will not be heard.

Jesus says in John 16:8-11, “And He, when He is come, will convict the world in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on Me; of righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you behold Me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world has been judged.”

The Holy Spirit, when He came, convicts the world of sin and righteousness and judgment.  When the Spirit came for the very first time, this is exactly what happened.  Acts 2:36-37 records Peter speaking after the Spirit came to them to a crowd, “’Let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God has made that same Jesus, whom you have crucified, both Lord and Christ.’  Now when they heard this, they were pricked in their heart, and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles, ‘Men and brethren, what shall we do?’”  As soon as the Spirit arrived into the hearts of the believers, the Spirit began convicting those who heard the truth about Jesus of their sin.

It is important to realize, however, that the Holy Spirit who does the convicting of sin does it through us in a supernatural way.  Peter got up and spoke to the crowd.  His words were not magical, but the Spirit flowed through Him to everyone who heard and it was that Spirit of God that reached inside of those men and women.  It is the same today.  It is overwhelming to know that the Spirit has no way to get to the unsaved or those denying God’s Word except through believers.  The Spirit seems to work exclusively through the faith of believers.

Even so, if we do not yield ourselves to the power of God we can reach no one.  We must approach every person knowing that no words we say, no depth of love in our heart, no knowledge we have, no depth upon truth that we stand, no conversation, no friendship, no experience … nothing in our arsenal can lead another person to conviction of sin.  It must be the Holy Spirit.  We must pray and depend upon Him and Him only to reach those we are led to reach.

Self Control

1 Cor 9: 25Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. 27But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.

We all know that one of the Fruits of the Spirit is self-control.  In other words, one of the aspects of being filled and controlled by God's Holy Spirit is self-control.  It's not something we force, but something that God does in and through us just like a lemon tree doesn't struggle to produce lemons, it just does it as a result of its nature.  I confess, however, that I struggle with some elements of self control.  Last weekend at the MSU game, I lost my temper sitting in pre-game traffic waiting to find a parking place.  I struggle with self-control when it comes to eating.  Overeating is a struggle for me.  I admit I need help and seek it, but this is particularly hard for me as one must eat.  Healthy eating requires planning and that is where I fail.  So, although the Spirit is in me, it does not totally consume me and not every conscious act is under the Spirit's control. 
There are other things, however, that I don't struggle with that trip others.  I don't lie, cheat, or steal for example, although there are opportunities to profit at times.  There are other examples, but the point is that there are areas of my life that are yielded to the spirit and others where God continues to chip away at those things that do not honor and resemble Him.  I'm a work in progress and I know it. 
What a tragedy it is when people fail to acknowledge areas where God needs to work.  God cannot control those areas where we refuse to give Him control.  Control by the spirit starts with an admission that we lack self-control. 
In what areas do you struggle?  We only fool ourselves when we rationalize our shortcomings into a lie that it must be ok if someone else does it. Do you have the courage to admit it, or do you think you can fool our God who knows everything?   Where does God need to chip away at you? 
Self-control is the result of allowing God to do what He wants to do through you, not some sort of self-initiated, heroic effort on our part.  Left to our own, we may succeed in the short term, but life is a marathon and eventually our own flesh and mental capacity will fail us.  God's grace and the fruit of it is eternal - now and forever.  Where does God need to take control in your life?  How are you praying about it? 

Stay Connected

“I am the true grapevine, and my Father is the gardener.  …  Remain in me, and I will remain in you. For a branch cannot produce fruit if it is severed from the vine, and you cannot be fruitful unless you remain in me.  Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing.” – John 15:1, 4-6

Pastor Dave recently illustrated in a sermon how we do not “suck” from the vine of Christ.  He was indicating that many people think we are to attach to the vine and then “get” all we can from it.  That’s not the way it works.  The trunk of a tree provides the nutrients for the branches and that food and water flows from the trunk into the branches.  When the branches produce leaves and fruit, it is because of the provisions of the trunk which come through the connection of the branch to it and through the branch.

Jesus is telling us here that we cannot produce fruit unless we are connected to Him, the vine of life.  He has to flow through us so that fruit can be produced.  This is assuming, of course, that we want the type of fruit God produces.  Some people do not.

Paul says in Galatians 5:22-23 that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness (kindness), goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.”   R. A. Torrey in his book The Presence and Work of the Holy Spirit asks the questions, “Do you wish these graces in your character and life?  Do you really wish them?  Then renounce self utterly and all its strivings after holiness, give up any thought that you can ever attain to anything really morally beautiful in your own strength, and let the Holy Spirit, who already dwells in you if you are a child of God, take full control and bear His own glorious fruit in your daily life.”  We are unable to produce such fruit no matter how strong we are or how hard we try to cultivate our own character.  Paul describes our fruit in verses 19-21 and it’s an ugly description.  Only the Spirit of God which flow from Him to us and through us will produce the fruit described above. 

The most important part, aside from God who is willing to be in such unworthy vessels, is our connection to the vine.  Are we doing everything we know we should be doing to stay connected to the vine?  When is the time we set aside to pray today?  When is the time we set aside to read His words today?  Have we prayed with our wife/husband/best friend today?  If not, when are we going to?  What have we deliberately put into our life so we could grow in faith?  If we do not have something, are we asking God for something that will require us to have faith in Him and Him alone so we might be strengthened in our faith?  In a world of communications connectivity, we need to focus everything and every thought on our connection to Jesus our Savior today and His fruit will abound in us.

JUDGING OTHERS AND EVANGELISM

Matt Ayers writes the below on his Tea In Solitude site.  The writing is located HERE and is repeated for convenience below.

In Matthew 7, “Jesus moves from personal temptations to interpersonal temptations” (ESV Study Bible Notes). This means that our relationship with others is on par with our relationship with the Father in terms of importance. Ultimately, it’s all about our personal relationships. In contemporary Christianity we have the tendency to think that things are all about me and Jesus. We must move beyond this by remembering that our relationships with others are crucial. They are important to the father.

In his treatment of the issue, Jesus reminds us not to judge (Matt 7:1). Notice that at first the command seems absolute and universal, but then Jesus does something different with it. Jesus isn’t saying “never judge”, he’s saying “don’t think yourself better than others out of arrogance.” This comes through in the metaphor (and hyperbole) that he uses about the speck and the log.

HE SAYS, WHY DO YOU SEE THE SPECK THAT IS IN YOUR BROTHER’S EYE, BUT DO NOT NOTICE THE LOG THAT IS IN YOUR OWN EYE? OR HOW CAN YOU SAY TO YOUR BROTHER, ‘LET ME TAKE THE SPECK OUT OF YOUR EYE,’ WHEN THERE IS THE LOG IN YOUR OWN EYE? YOU HYPOCRITE, FIRST TAKE THE LOG OUT OF YOUR OWN EYE, AND THEN YOU WILL SEE CLEARLY TO TAKE THE SPECK OUT OF YOUR BROTHER’S EYE.

Notice, once again, that Jesus is giving permission here to “take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” The condition of this, however, is to be humbled first by dealing with your own issues before judging others. “ultimately the one who feels grieved and humbled by his own sin can help remove the ‘speck’ from others” (ESV Study Bible Notes).

Christians have been accused of judging others when Jesus teaches us not to judge based on this passage. This passage doesn’t teach us not to judge.  To the contrary, this passage also teaches us that we should judge, but that we can only do so once we’ve arrived at a proper place in dealing with our own sin first.

In verse 6 of this same chapter, Jesus turns a corner. He says,

DO NOT GIVE DOGS WHAT IS HOLY, AND DO NOT THROW YOUR PEARLS BEFORE PIGS, LEST THEY TRAMPLE THEM UNDERFOOT AND TURN TO ATTACK YOU.

I’ve struggled with this verse in the past because I’ve always understood that the pearls symbolized the Kingdom of God (i.e., the Gospel) and certainly we should preach the Kingdom to EVERYONE! Jesus corrects this thinking. Yes, the pearls are the Kingdom indeed, but he’s clearly teaching here that we should not preach the Kingdom to those who adamantly reject it. The Kingdom is for those who are prepared to receive it.

This point reminds us that bringing people into the Kingdom is GOD’S work, not our own. God is preparing hearts by his grace and through the Holy Spirit to receive the Kingdom. Lest we mindlessly and prayerlessly preach the kingdom as if it’s our own work! Let us JOIN the father in his work. Let us be humbled over our own sin so that we can help one another.

Accountability - the greater love

James 2:  15Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. 16If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? 17In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.

Meeting physical need is obviously important, but what about spiritual needs.  What spiritual needs do we have?  Micah reminds us that we are to Walk justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God (6:8).  How do we do that on a real basis?  The very term Christian means more than a disciple of Christ.  It's use in Acts 11 derives its meaning from the Greek word Χριστιανός (Christianos) meaning anointed one with a latin adjective ending literally meaning enslaved.  So as Paul said many times, we are slaves to Christ meaning He makes the rules and we follow them. 
In today's politically correct society, it isn't acceptable to confront someone's behavior or decisions.  I maintain, however, that to leave someone in a life of sin is exactly the same as allowing your children to play in a busy street.  You're tempting fate (Deut 6:16).  Naturally a loving parent rescues the child from danger they may or may not realize.
Accountability is the same.  Sometimes we make a series of bad decisions that lead to a propensity to sin.  This is always because we're making decisions rooted in self-centeredness, but we often don't see it that way at all.  Others have a different perspective and can offer insight to which we may be blind.  Failure to identify risky behavior is to condemn someone to (perhaps repeatedly) getting hurt physically, emotionally, or mentally.  Worse, the continued sin ensures that the person is not spiritually healthy. 

Judgmental?

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.” – John 3:16

I have been accused of being judgmental and accusatory by a family member.  I asked this person two questions: 1) Do you believe in Jesus as the Son of God?  2) Are you involved in a certain sin?  They answered the first one yes, but would not answer the second one yes or no, even when prompted to do so.  The truth is that any of us when confronted with whatever sin ensnares us should answer yes.  By doing so, we recognize that it is sin (God is the authority), we accept responsibility for our actions (we opposed God), and we are convicted of it (we want to repent and turn away from following the sin to follow God).  If we answer no, it means we do not believe in God’s authority or we do not believe that every word written in the Scriptures is the Word of God.  If we do not answer yes or no, it means we’re riding the fence.  We know what the Word says, but we’re having fun and we don’t want to stop doing what we’re doing.  We fool ourselves by pretending that we didn’t answer no, but any answer that isn’t yes is a no.

Is it judgmental to ask such a question of those whom you love?  I believe it is unloving not to ask.  I believe it is just as okay in the spirit of Jesus’ words in John 3:16 to say, “I so loved you that I asked you if you believe in the Words of the only begotten Son of God so you can have life.”  If we believe in Jesus as our Savior as recorded in the Bible as the only Son of the one true living God and it is that faith in His work of life, death, and resurrection that removes our sin debt, then we must believe the other words of Jesus also.  It would be insane to not believe the other recorded words yet trust upon words on the other pages for our very life.

Anyone who refuses to accept the words of Jesus that apply to their lifestyle, but also accept the words of Jesus that apply to their salvation is double-minded.  You have to recognize all His words whether you like them or not.  And only people who love you as He does are willing to ask you where you are as you follow Him because that is where your best and most full life exists.