Fruit

All this business about fruit can be really perplexing. If you are a ‘good Christian’, ‘growing in the Lord’ you will ‘produce fruit’. The Bible is very specific about this fruit “Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control”. Seems pretty straightforward doesn't it?

Unfortunately, there are some who want to more specifically define ‘fruit’, insisting upon specific ‘signs’ of a fruitful Christian. Here are a few examples:

1. You will attend church every Sunday

2. You will attend Bible study at least twice a week

3. You will tithe regularly

4. You will attend every prayer meeting and pray Spirit led prayers out loud

5. You will spout Bible verses in every sentence.

6. You will appear at every church gathering with a happy countenance, never tired, frustrated, or emotionally affected in any way other than joy, joy, joy.

7. You will have a ‘servant heart’ also further defined as: you will automatically clean toilets, empty trash cans and various other ‘servant hearted activities’

I know you can help me expand the list.

Now, some of these are perfectly good and reasonable expectations to a certain degree, but when they become some sort of litmus test to qualify or disqualify you for any kind of service, it seems a little perilous. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think I could ever perfectly live up to this list. I’m a 46 year old mother of 10 children. I’ve been a mom for 28 years, and I still have five children at home. The youngest is five, so I have quite a few years to go. The other day I looked up and noticed that cobwebs had grown all over the house without my even noticing. I wash my windows about once every two years and my whole bathroom would probably glow in a UV light. I would never notice that the church bathroom is a little dirty… compared to mine, it sparkles.

Sometimes I feel like I’m a kiwi vine and someone is trying to make me into a peach tree. No matter how I try, I cannot produce peaches. Are my kiwis going to rot on the vine because everyone wants peaches? Is it because they are brown and furry? Don’t they realize that peaches are furry too? Kiwi skin might be a little tough, but it serves a purpose. Kiwi fruit is a weird color, but it is packed with vitamins and nutrition and it tastes good. Wouldn’t it would be a shame to let it rot on the vine? What kind of fruit are you? Is your fruit ‘popular’?

I’m starting to wonder if maybe some can’t see the forest for the trees… especially when they’re only looking for peach trees.