I want to thank our staff for picking up the slack while I was took a week off to enjoy the early spring pollen and virus. Yikes. I will understand if you avoid me for the next 2 weeks while this thing runs its course. Knuckle bumps or elbow greetings will be just fine and understood. I am grateful for Sean being willing to step up and hit it out of the park. Thanks Sean.
Sean began our newest teaching series on Galatians 5:22-23, the fruit of the Spirit. The title we chose is “Fruit Inspection”. The idea is that we inspect our own hearts and lives first. The focus is not on inspecting others fruit…although among people in covenant, that is a good thing, not a bad thing. We have gone over this a dozen times and it bears repeating. There is a significant difference in judging and being judgmental. We make judgment calls every day, all day in almost all situations. Based on God’s Word and the life of our Lord, we judge an action to be right or wrong, healthy or unhealthy. When you judge the person, you have taken over God’s role. Not a good idea. A doctor telling you the x-ray looks bad is making a judgment. The doctor is not being judgmental. Neither would the doctor be a very good doctor by pretending there was nothing wrong with the x-ray. You are in a type of covenant relationship with your doctor and you expect honesty and help. At times, believers can become judgmental, better than you, holier than thou. That is the hurtful and non-helpful attitude. I know it is difficult to not judge…especially when we think our sins are not as bad as “their” sins.
The goal of this series on Fruit Inspection is to challenge us to submit our lives to the Holy Spirit. Let Him be the inspector of our lives. Invite Him to live in and through us. Bear fruit that remains and that is attractive and winsome to a lost and broken world. I suspect we will lead more people to Jesus and discipleship by exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit than by being judgmental and condemning.
Anyone can condemn the darkness…let’s be people that light a light.
Pastor Tom
