Someone once said that the trouble with the internet is that it gives anyone a microphone but not everybody has yet earned the right to use it. Without wanting to also fall into that category, here’s something about blogs which has been troubling me lately…..
I was reading a ‘christian’ blog the other day and I found it quite depressing. The guy seemed pretty switched on theologically. He seemed to have a good handle of the word and interpreted it in a way that I would generally commend. I’m sure if we were to get together over a coffee we’d agree academically on a lot of things.
The depressing thing was – although it seemed to contain a lot of knowledge about God – it just didn’t seem to be very Godly. While the author seemed to know and understand the gospel, he didn’t seem to have been changed by it. Bottom line, the content and the style just didn’t seem very Christ-like.
What’s the fruit, and how does it taste?
When every post is about who someone is against, what they’re against, and what everyone else is doing that is wrong, alarm bells should start ringing. Why? Because that’s not how Jesus was, it doesn’t apply his instructions on how to live, and it shows nothing of the nature and character of God.
Jesus was very clear what he was against. Check out his accusations against the Pharisees for example. However, he spent a great deal more time focusing on what he was for. He spent his time teaching and living out life in such a way that people would know what being rooted in a relationship with the Father is like, and what Godly ways of living look like.
Personally I think we need to talk a lot more about what we believe. There are Christians I know – and even preachers I hear – who are indeed sloppy with their handling, understanding and use of scripture. All of us need to grow in how we ‘rightly divide the word of truth’
However, we’re missing it if all the word of God is ever used for is to point out what we’re against. How Godly is it for the living, life-giving word to be used as a weapon against other believers without grace or love? Jesus – the living word – was said by John to be ‘full of grace and truth’. The two are never separated and can never be understood outside of a growing understanding of God – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit: Who he is, what he is like, what he has done, and what he is still doing. When the word is used it should bring life, hope, joy, healing, restoration, grace, mercy.
The test of any teaching- or any teacher – is in the fruit. Many say that someone having a large following or a large church isn’t necessarily a sign of Godly fruit. I agree. I also say that knowing the Bible and being able to use it isn’t necessarily a sign of Godly fruit either.
When Jesus is explaining how you can tell a true disciple he gives one characteristic. It’s not their understanding of doctrine, their ability to apply the word or spot heresy. It’s LOVE.
So what fruit should we look for? One word – LOVE.
Is love evident? Is the love of God displayed and clearly shown through what is written? Does the blogger/teacher/pastor seem to love God and love people? Is the community he leads or is part of growing in love for God, love for one another, and love for the world we’re called to reach?
The Psalmist says “O taste and see that the Lord is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in HIM” (Psalm 34)
One question then to always ask: What’s the fruit, how does it taste?
Filed under: Christian Life
True article, nice to see someone else is actually thinking what I’ve been thinking. But I also would wonder what do you think about my writing style. I find that people get offended all the time because of the word of God from even one or two words from the bible that their emotions can’t deal with or their imagination can’t comprehend but it’s still true.
[...] Gospel Filters Posted on 6 August, 2008 by Daniel Been continuing to think over this post, and thinking about what are some of the things that hinder people ‘tasting good fruit’ [...]
[...] sure this will provide fodder for newspapers, critics, and “christian blogs” for some time to come. I certainly don’t want to jump on the bandwagon but felt I should say [...]