The fruit of the Spirit is one of those topics of conversation that the majority of Christians either ignore, or avoid. I think it stems from a very awkward and uncomfortable viewpoint. When discussing the fruit of the Spirit, we are always left with one lingering question... Do I have it? If the answer is "no", then the notion is terrifying and uncomfortable and requires a reaction. The fruit of the Spirit requires us to examine ourselves, and most often in ways that we don't want to.
I have noticed that when choosing people for leadership positions in churches, the fruit of the Spirit is largely ignored. People tend to make leadership decisions on many other factors: I prayed about you and felt lead to you. You kept popping up into my head. You are always doing work for God at our church. You are so nice and you say the right things, most of the time. You are "growing" as a "Christian" so we want to get you in leadership to keep that going... and on and on and on. In all my years of leading, teaching, being taught, being led, etc, I have never heard someone say, "You exhibit the fruit of the Spirit so well that we can see God's work in you and want you to spearhead A, B or C." People select leaders based on feelings, and that, my friends, is unbiblical.
The fruit of the Spirit is something impossible to fake long term. I think that's why Christ says that we will know His people by their fruit (Matthew 7.20). Seriously, think about it. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law." (Galations 5.22-23)
Lets just break these down one by one...love. It's sort of an easy one. Most people can say that "Christians" are loving. I think that's sort of the obvious, fake the funk (if you genuinely don't have the Holy Spirit), act nice around people so they think we're loving kind of thing. Joy, on the other hand, is virtually impossible to fake. It is not the same as happiness. I think a lot of people have that confused. Joy is a sort of gut filling, body encompassing, obvious to anyone with any sort of intuition kind of fruit. To be perfectly honest, I have only met one person in my entire life of following Christ and meeting people, who was filled with joy. Peace...do you really have peace? I mean, when the tornadoes are coming, the job is ending, the children are sick, your body is falling apart, do you really have peace? Patience. Ahem...how patient are you? Are you patient when your family member isn't doing what you want? Are you patient when waiting for that new job opportunity to come through? Are you patient waiting for that special guy or gal to come into your life? Are you patient while waiting for your soldier to return home from deployment? Kindness, how kind are you really? And are you kind to people who are kind to you, or are you kind to everyone? Goodness. What does this even mean!? I mean, seriously, what does it mean to show goodness? Faithfulness, are you faithful when no one around you is? Are you faithful in your heart, when that attractive person walks by, or does your mind take you to someplace a little less faithful? Gentleness. Are you gentle when your spouse does something that angers you? Are you gentle when your children are not making the choices you want them to? Are you gentle when people around you are upsetting you? Self control. How controlled are you really?
After examining all of these things, I don't know about you, but I know in myself, I fail at almost all of them. Which then begs the question, "Do I have the Holy Spirit in me?" Is it possible to have the Holy Spirit for a time and then for Him to leave because of our own sinfulness? Should anyone be in a leadership position in church (deacon/elder, teacher, etc etc) while they are not exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit?
I don't believe that lack of fruit of the Spirit at any given time causes one to lose salvation. Peter denied Christ three times (he obviously didn't have peace, or faithfulness), but yet I don't believe he lost his salvation in those moments. I do, however, believe that if we do not actively see the fruit of the Spirit in a person's life, then they have no business being in a leadership position.
We are so quick to assume that someone has Christ in their hearts simply because they say they do. Really!? Is that genuinely common sense? If I go to England and say I am the Queen's niece does that make it true just because I say it is?
Just because you might see character growth in an individual, it does not mean that God is working in them or through them. Do you really believe so naively, that the devil does not actively put people into our churches, our lives, our congregations, our bible studies, who do not follow God and are there only to cause destruction and dismay? Why are we so quick to ignore that this spiritual battle, the devil is a liar, cunning, sneaky, and very adept at "playing the part" so as to cause mass confusion and deception. We need to open our eyes and actively, genuinely, persistently, TEST THE SPIRITS! We choose to wear blinders that allow us to be so actively led astray. We are all like sheep.
My heart is troubled with these thoughts. My heart is troubled because in truth, what does the fruit of the Spirit say about me? Who does God say that I am?
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