Walking with the Spirit part 4
Fruit for God’s Mission
We have come to the last three fruits in Paul’s list of fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5. Before we examine these three more closely, let’s do a quick recap of the first six.
Love: the fruit that is foundational to the rest. It is the root of our spiritual tree.
Joy: the fruit that centers our mind and heart on the salvation and hope we have in Christ.
Peace: the fruit that enables us to continue onward in the path God has laid out for us giving us
strength.
Patience: the application of peace in our relationships—the beginnings of putting our faith into practice.
Kindness: the willingness to speak the truth with love—the desire to do no harm while maintaining faithfulness to the gospel of Christ.
Goodness: the willingness to correct a wrong and supply a need even if it may be uncomfortable for either party.
Now, as has been said before, the list of 9 are not exhaustive, nor do they work like a checklist. Each one is related to the others in some way, and we are really looking at a description of Christ. Paul tells us elsewhere to imitate Christ, and these are the traits that we could use to describe Jesus. And that relationship between the fruit and Jesus’ character is how we can join in the mission of God to save humanity.
This week is called “Fruit for God’s Mission,” because ultimately that is what cultivating the fruit of the Spirit in our lives is all about. The Lord desired a holy people to be his representatives in this physical world. That desire has not changed. You may recall way back in part 1 of this series the last main point:
Scripture describes salvation and discipleship as a combination of putting our head, heart, and hands to work for the Lord.
The “work” that we do for the Lord is the ministry of reconciliation we discussed in the last session. We are called by God to be saved and help others find salvation, as well. The fruit of the Spirit help us do just that.
Let’s read our key verses for the series, and then dive into the last three fruits.
But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
…
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.
Galatians 5:16-17 & 22-24
Faithfulness
The Greek for ‘faithfulness’ is pistis which is also translated as “faith” or “trust”. When Jesus remarked about someone’s faith before healing them, such as the centurion or the friends who brought their paralyzed friend to Jesus through the roof, he remarked on their pistis. It is the trust to continue in action knowing you are following the right course of action.
When we consider following Jesus with our head, heart, and hands, faithfulness reaches straight to our hands. We cannot claim to be faithful to God if we merely agree with the mission of God in theory or academic practice. Nor does it do any good to feel sorry for all the lost people who have not yet put their faith in Jesus. Who was ever saved because a person answered a Sunday School question or told their Christian friend how much they feel sorry for those without Christ?
James tells us this kind of faith without works is dead. Likewise, Hebrews remains us to be faithful because our God is faithful writing:
Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
Hebrews 10:23-25
Notice we can “hold fast to the confession,” in other words keep our faith and proclaim our faith, because God is faithful to fulfill his promises. What did he promise us? He promises to transform our head, heart, and hands when we are surrendered to him. He promises we have a place in heaven waiting for us, because Christ has gone to prepare a place for us. He promises he will never leave us nor forsake us. And he promises that when we aren’t even sure what to say, the Holy Spirit will give us the words to say.
And because he is faithful, we can be faithful, and our faithfulness can be seen in stirring one another up for good works—including meeting together regularly for encouragement, especially in light of the fact of Jesus’ Return.
Cultivating faithfulness requires actively engaging with the mission of God and the people of God.
Additionally, cultivating faithfulness requires developing good habits. When we consider the first set of fruit, they are primarily about getting our heads and hearts right. Love, Joy, and Peace have much to do with our personal well-being, but when we seek to extend those fruits beyond ourselves and share it with lost people around us, that is when we demonstrate faithfulness.
We are showing ourselves faithful when we love as Christ loves.
We are showing ourselves faithful when we bring others joy as Christ has brought us joy.
We are showing ourselves faithful when we establish peace with others as Christ established peace with us.
The same is true for being faithful to show patience, kindness, and goodness.
Gentleness
“Gentleness” sounds much like kindness and goodness, but it’s a different sort. The Greek word doesn’t actually have an English equivalent, and so modern translations have opted for ‘gentleness’ because it’s a close second. The KJV and a few older translations use “meekness” which is probably the better term. “Gentle” has the connotation of being a wimp. “Meek” is not being a wimp, it’s about restraining the power you do have. When Paul rebukes the Corinthian church, he does so with gentleness—despite having very harsh criticisms for them. When Jesus entered Jerusalem, he came on a donkey humbly as Savior, not with an army as Conquerer.
As we consider cultivating meekness within ourselves and our relationships, the first step is to consider the power we have at our disposal. Some are physically strong and could try to beat others into faith in Christ, but that’s not really what Jesus wants.
I am reminded of my favorite prison ministry story. A pastor friend of mine had been serving as a prison chaplain for some time, but when he first entered the prison, there was one particular inmate who wanted nothing to do with him or Jesus. The first few months were fairly difficult for the chaplain simply because no one would show up to his meeting. He would get a few people here and there, but he mainly just spent his time going cell to cell talking and praying with those who would talk to him.
But this one giant of a man was uninterested. It was only after several months of the chaplain being faithful to have his meeting and pray with those who wanted it, that the giant started to get intrigued. Finally, one day the giant showed up to the Bible study meeting and asked about Jesus. The chaplain answered his questions and shared the Gospel. The giant’s response was essentially, “Is this for real?” The chaplain replied, “yes, it really is.” The giant inmate gave his heart to Christ that day and rejoiced.
The next week, when it came time for the Sunday service, the giant showed up, but he noticed no one else had come. He asked the chaplain why no one else was there, and the chaplain explained it was an option for the inmates, and many of them must have felt like doing something else. That answer wasn’t good enough for the inmate, and so he got up and walked out of the meeting area. The chaplain was confused, until after several minutes passed, and the giant returned with the entire cell block. The chaplain asked the inmate how he was able to convince so many to come, and the giant responded, “It was easy. I told them to show up, or I would beat them later in the yard.” The chaplain told him he was grateful for bringing the other inmates, but perhaps they should discuss ‘gentleness’ before further mission endeavors in the prison.
Having gentleness in our approach towards the lost means valuing the person over our own position or argument.
Paul tells Timothy,
And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.
2 Timothy 2:24-26
One commentator said it this way, “We should be gentle when we are correcting opponents, aiming to win the person, not the argument.” It is not our job to make them follow Jesus. It is our job to teach them how.
Self-Control
The last fruit listed is possibly one that speaks most to our current day and age. Self-control, or engkrateia, is literally “in power over.” It is having mastery over one’s own appetites. Some older translations use “temperance.” It is the hardest in our current culture simply because the axiom of today is “However you feel is OK, and whatever you want to do is OK,” or the losing popularity tagline “YOLO”. It is unforgivable to “shame” someone for their behavior.
And this attitude makes perfect sense in light of the prevailing belief that we are all just evolved animals that shouldn’t feel guilty about maintaining some of our primitive animal ways. And yet, there is something very self-contradictory about this philosophy.
You should keep yourself healthy, so you can fell better about yourself…but don’t feel bad about poor eating habits, or teaching your kids poor eating habits.
You should be faithful to your friends and loved ones…but don’t feel bad about your sexuality or impulses.
Exercise is good for you…unless you need to binge tv and gorge ice cream for your “mental health.”
Or my personal favorite, everyone deserves a “living wage” regardless of life choices or a chosen profession.
The fact is this: in general, as a population, we want to have all the benefits of a self-disciplined life without actually having self-discipline. We want to be the professional athlete, but not put in the effort and sacrifice it takes to reach the top. We want the fat paychecks, but not sacrifice our free time to work towards a higher level in our career. We want strong marriages but are not willing to give up our individuality. In reality,
Nothing of value in this world is achieved without self-control.
This reality is a by-product of the fall. If you look way back in Genesis 3, the Lord tells Adam,
Because you have listened to the voice of your wife and have eaten of the tree of which I commanded you, ’You shall not eat of it,’ cursed is the ground because of you; in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life; thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you; and you shall eat the plants of the field.
By the sweat of your face you shall eat bread, till you return to the ground, for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”Genesis 3:17-19
On the surface, this curse points to the problem of growing food, but the curse extends every part of life. Nothing is given to us freely.
Do this as an exercise. Write down some achievement—whether it’s one you would like to have personally, or if you are completely satisfied with your life, then make something up. But I’m willing to bet there is at least one thing you would like to improve about yourself. Next, ask yourself, “What would it take to accomplish this thing?” Some of the things you list you might not have control over, but there will be some things you do. Last, ask yourself, “What would I need to give up in order to devote more time to do the things necessary to accomplish this?”
The ability to make this list, and then stick to it, is self-control. And that is how you cultivate self-control in your life. First, we use our head to formulate a plan. Second, we use our hearts to decide what are the real priorities we should have. And last, we put our hands and feet to work putting the plan into action. And it is a daily task to reach that thing that you want to achieve.
Now, we can apply this pattern into our own walk with Jesus and into our corporate walk together as a church. What is it that we want to accomplish as a church? For several decades, churches adopted the business vocabulary of “Mission”—what is the mission of the church? Well, we already have our mission. Jesus gave us the church’s mission in Matthew 28:
And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20
We are called by God to make disciples and teach them to make disciples. That is our mission as a church. Nothing else that we do matters, if we are not bringing people to Christ and teaching them to follow Him.
The fruit of the Spirit are to help us help others find salvation in Jesus Christ.
Putting the Fruit in One Basket
Before we close, there is one last point that needs to be addressed. As has been said throughout this series, the fruit all work together. Galatians 5:22-24 is less of a checklist as it is a description of what it means to imitate Christ. And as we survey the list in its entirety, notice the two terms that bookend the list: love and self-control. From as far back as the 4th century, theologians have noted the significance of these terms as the beginning and end of the list. And very interestingly for today’s cultural climate, neuropsychologists have discovered connections between compassionate behavior and self-control in the brain.
The problem lies in the very selfish nature of humans. The desire for self-preservation and self-interest is the strongest desire humans have. Miraculous feats of strength can be achieved by someone when their life depends on it. In order to love someone, that selfish desire has to be stifled. One psychologist says it this way:
Any genuine lover behaves with self-discipline and any genuinely loving relationship is a disciplined relationship. If I truly love another, I will obviously order my behavior in such a way as to contribute to the utmost to his or her spiritual growth.
M. Scott Peck, The Road Less Travelled, 143
If we are to cultivate the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, we must choose to be self-controlled, loving, and self-discipled people.
1 Corinthians 13 is known as the love chapter, because Paul gives a rather long, poetic definition of what love is. In the midst of that definition, he says something else that tends to get glossed over during wedding ceremonies. He says,
When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways.
1 Corinthians 13:11
This seemingly out of context sentence is really a reminder that love requires self-discipline. We cannot love one another, nor cultivate any of the other fruit, if we do not put away childish things. We are not animals bound to our instincts, nor are we children that beg and whine for their way. If we are in Christ, we are sons and daughters of the King who calls us to maturity and holiness.
Next week, we will continue looking at how we can cultivate the fruit of the Spirit in our lives, but for today, let’s consider the fruit themselves. How are we doing? And most importantly, have we fully surrendered our head, heart, and hands to the one who desires to transform us from death to life?