Leaves or Fruit?

In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry, and he noticed a fig tree beside the road.  He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves.  Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!”  And immediately the fig tree withered up.   Matthew 21:18-19 (NLT)

In my last post I noted this verse as one that worried me and left it there.  At least one of you complained that I just left that tension unresolved.  Hey, life is like that, but since you ask…..

What this little episode illustrates for me is that God isn’t pleased or even tolerant of a tree that only has leaves.  He gave the fig tree life and the ability to grow and become healthy, expecting it to bear fruit.  The fruit of a tree is essentially offered up or given away to feed something other than the tree itself.  By God’s design the tree’s fruit also contains the seed.  That’s how the fig tree tree reproduces and produces more fig trees…and ultimately more figs.  And the figs, the fruit, is the whole point – the reason God made fig trees to begin with.  The entire purpose of the fig tree is to make figs.  Because the tree in the story had good roots, a strong trunk, well designed branches, air, sunlight, water, and nutrients (all provided by God), it was a wonderfully healthy fig tree and produced lots of healthy leaves, which contributed to even more photosynthesis and made the tree look healthier and healther.  One problem:  all the plant’s energy went into making more leaves when it was supposed to be producing fruit.  And Jesus responded to that decisively.

The application for me is that God’s intention for my life is for fruit, not leaves.  It’s about what of myself I give away for others, not about what I keep and redirect towards myself.  Even my most selfless actions, rare though they be, are tainted by self-interest.  I heard a  man I admire as much as anyone I know say, “If we wait until our motives are pure, we’ll never get out of bed in the morning.”  Knowing that, I have to be really intentional about giving of myself and my stuff….fruit for others that contains seeds.  Looking out for myself….growing leaves….just comes naturally.

I beleive this is true for churches as well.   It’s NOT about deeper roots, more branches, and lots of pretty folliage that looks good from a distance.  It’s about intentionally producing fruit to give away.   A church is NOT supposed to take it’s resources and spend it all on itself, for things that just benefit our members and our family (leaves).  Church needs to be about offering ourselves and our money and our stuff and the seeds of Grace they contain (fruit) to those that desperately need what God blessed us with.  Because the church is made up of selfish people like me, the tendency is always just to take care of ourselves and look inward.  We have to be intentional about looking out.

God shows us more grace than the fig tree in the story.  For now……

Fig Fear

In the morning, as Jesus was returning to Jerusalem, he was hungry, and he noticed a fig tree beside the road.  He went over to see if there were any figs, but there were only leaves.  Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!”  And immediately the fig tree withered up.   Matthew 21:18-19 (NLT)

This is one of those little stories in the Bible that worries me.   That’s all.

Drink Coffee. Do Good.

But if there are any poor Israelites in your towns when you arrive in the land that the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tight-fisted toward them.  Instead, be generous and lend them whatever they need…..Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly……There will always be some in the land who are poor.  That is why I am commanding you to share feely with the poor and with other Israelites in need.  Deuteronomy 15:7-8, 10a, 11 (NLT)

Way, way back in the Old Testament, Moses tells the children of Israel to be generous, to think about those less fortunate, to do something for the poor, to share.  I’ve been convicted all this summer about the uselessness of my feeling the “right” feelings, even seeing where I think God’s heart is (almost invariably with people in some sort of need) but doing NOTHING about it.  Books I’ve probably already mentioned by Francis Chan and Nancy Ortburg seriously kicked me in the rear recently, and listening to Andy Stanley on-line talk about his summer vacation in Rwanda pushed me over the edge.  Anyway, It would be great if I could tell you some great success story of my faith, preferably with miraculous results, but that’s not my experience.  For me, it’s always taking a small step in what I think is the right direction.  That’s all.

This morning I introduced some folks at our little church in SC to Rwandan coffee sold by Land of a Thousand Hills Coffee Company.  I first heard about them last year at the Catalyst Conference and their business model is based on the idea that when I buy their coffee, I can not only get a great cup of coffee, I can contribute to rebuilding the lives of people in Rwanda, home of one of the worst genocides in human history.  With every cup I’m reminded of the terrible evil that exists, how much the world cries out to be redeemed by God, but also how I can make a small difference in the lives of people with great need simply by paying a little extra for coffee.  I’ll grant you it’s a small step, but any movement towards the heart of God has potential that I can’t begin to fathom.

Check the coffee folks out at www.landofathousandhillscoffee.com or take whatever step God may lead you to, but don’t just sit there.  Do something.

Awesome

The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you.  Romans 8:11a (NLT)

There’s this guy we hear talk sometime that uses the word “awesome” within the first two minutes he speaks.  Every time.  Kind of a joke to me now.  It’s an overused word for the most part.

This truth, not just the verse, but the fact behind the verse, IS actually awesome.  Give it some thought.  The same Spirit of God that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us!  If I really believe that about myself and my fellow Christians, it should change everything shouldn’t it?  That’s so awesome I don’t have more to add now.  Still stewing on this…..  Must be “overawed.”

Momentous

Hope I spelled the title right.  Big day here. 

Our baby, Shelby, goes to public school for the first time today.  She’s 13 and has been homeschooled until now….and the life of a teenage girl is full of plenty of drama EVERY day…so I’m praying for her as she transitions. 

The middle kid, Patrick, begins his second year of high school and had some sort of “product” in his hair when I dropped him off today.  Hair style and personal grooming has never been high on his list, but “times they are a changing.”

Chris turns 18 today and begins his first day of class at Charleston Southern.  In fact, Laura thought he had 8 o’clock classes every morning, so let’s hope he’s in class even as I write this.  Starting college is a big deal for him and the whole family.

And my lovely bride, Laura, signs up for classes today at TriCounty Technical College to begin pursuing a degree in nursing after a few years away from the college classroom.   That’ll be a challenge for everyone, not just Laura, as we learn to share her with more of the rest of the world.

I’m reminded how much God has blessed me and my family.  The verse below stresses how dependant we all are on God as we do the stuff of life.  I pray God will keep our hearts pure and our plans leaning on Him as we live this momentous day, and those we trust will follow.

All the ways of a man are clean in his own sight, but the Lord weighs the motives.  Commit your works to the Lord, and your plans will be established.  Proverbs 16:2-3 (NASB)

Fragments

Our youth group at Good Hope is called “Fragments.”  I’m sure there is a good reason, but it escapes me at the moment….

I’m reading a manuscript of a short book by a good friend of mine.  His stories are excellent, but he as he writes he tends to  kinda take these sentence fragments and join them all up with commas into one long sentence.  That works in conversation because he’s a performer, but it doesn’t translate as well on paper.  He may fire me as an editor

Our pastor gave a great message today on who, how, and why a church should judge based on 1 Corithians 5.   Paul writes:

I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters; for then you would have to go out of the world.  But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he should be an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler – not even to eat with such a one.  I Cor 5:9-11 (NASB)

Tough subject, but I love how he taught it.  Most of us Christians are a lot better at condeming the world (which AIN’T our job) than we are at confronting fellow believers in a loving way (which IS). 

On a side note, as a rural Southern Baptist church, we’re struggling whether to address him as “Pastor Jamie,” or just “Jamie.”  I’ve NOT heard “Preacher Jamie” very ofen.  He signs his e-mail “Jamie D,” but I think that is evidence of his latent desire to be a rapper and I just can’t go there.

And in closing, as a bonus for any of you young men  that may still be reading, I’m a middle-aged white guy.  Though our importance is waning, we are still likely to have at least some influence on your life as a father, coach, teacher, supervisor, boss, customer, whatever….   I’m gonna go out on a limb here and speak for the vast, vast majority of my fellow men.  “Fellas, you can get tattooed, pierced, dreaded, mo-hawked, or faux hawked if you wish.  You can wear hoods or sunglasses indoors.  You can even revel in the fact that you look like you slept in your clothes the last couple of days, and/or borrowed them from your sister.  You just need to know this:  We’re not impressed even a little teeny tiny bit. ” 

 I tell you this because I love you.

Justified

But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor.”  Luke 10:29 (NIV)

This statement is from a guy described as an expert in the law.  He had just told Jesus that the Bible taught him that he was supposed to love God wholeheartedly and love his neighbor as he loved himself.  Jesus said he had it right; now just do it.  Like me, however, this guy was looking for a loophole.  He wanted to do what he wanted to do.  “He wanted to justify himself” by convincing himself that a) there were exceptions, b) there were extenuating circumstances, c) there were limits to this kind of thing, d) there were reasons this didn’t make sense, e) there were things God wouldn’t REALLY expect, f) God couldn’t have meant THAT, etc., etc. 

I’m really good at this.  I can convince myself of anything and justify anything I really want to do…or to avoid.  I am SO guilty of this.  It could be my life verse.  “He wanted to justify himself.” 

This is what conviction looks like for me.  It’s hard.  Repentance is even harder.

Chris, College, and Faith

Our eldest son Chris moves into the dorm at Charleston Southern University this weekend.  He’s excited.  His mom and I are going through the emotions of seeing this kid we’ve loved for 18 years leaving us to learn to navigate life on his own a few hours away from our watchful eyes and wise discipline.  He’s a talented young man that loves God, and though he and I have certainly been at odds many times and we’ve frustrated each other greatly, I’m really proud of him. 

I’ve been praying basically the same thing for him for the past several years on a regular basis.  I’ve also had the strategic position as head of our home to influence, if not control, the things that he’s exposed to and how he spends his time.  As he moves 4 hours away from home and out of my house this weekend, I’m effectively reduced to prayer alone.  That is a way bigger test of my faith, and he’ll discover things in the next few months that will stretch him and his faith as well.

Last night I was thinking of passages of favorite books or pithy quotes or even personal guidance I could offer him as he leaves our nest.  No doubt at 18 he’d prefer a couple hundred bucks, but still….. :) Anyway, this morning in my quiet time I found one sentence that condenses everything I was looking for.  It’s from Paul writing to people that he loves and wants the best for, and yet he’s not there with them.  He encourages them, gives them the best advice he knows to give them, and prays over them that God would work in their lives to preserve their spirit, soul and body.  And just before he signs off he reminds them….

The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it.  1 Thessalonians 5:24 (NIV)

Deflecting Glory

Those who speak for themselves want glory only for themselves, but a person who seeks to honor the one who sent him speaks truth, not lies.  John 7:18 (NLT)

This is from the mouth of Jesus as He explained that His message wasn’t His own, but from God the Father.  Considering the speaker that is a pretty staggering statement.   Jesus deserved glory but sought to honor His Father in what He said.  And Jesus says we can tell something about the truthfulness of what is said by the intentions of the speaker and who he/she seeks to honor.

I had the opportunity to speak to a good sized group of kids and parents yesterday at a cattle show at the worship service they hold on Sunday morning before the show.  I’d kinda prepared what I wanted to say a couple of weeks out but the verse I just noted hit me pretty hard right before I spoke.  I always want to speak well and present my faith clearly and compellingly to others, and I was reminded by this verse that my focus and intent when I communicate has GOT to be on deflecting glory from myself and towards God.  The temptation is always there to want to do well and be praised by people for doing a good job, so I find I have to really be intentional about watching myself to guard against taking something that belongs to God.  My intention HAS to be pointing people away from themselves and away from me and towards the God that loves them.  I practically find it helps just to think about and pray for specific people that I’ll be communicating to, and that God will work in them and draw them to Him.  I find that’s pretty effective at taking my focus off myself…at least for a few seconds.