BEAR FRUIT WORTHY OF REPENTANCE
Sakkie Parsons
Someone wrote me a letter, and from the contents of the letter I realized that the person has a serious problem with people who call themselves Christians, but only behave like Christians when they are in church, at other Christian gatherings, or among fellow believers. During the week, or whenever they are not among other Christians, they behave just like the world—and sometimes even worse.
This is how I view this great problem within Christianity:
The first thing I want to point out is that these people the writer is referring to are certainly not a new phenomenon.
Jesus Himself had to deal with them long before He walked to Golgotha, and from the very beginning they were among His greatest opponents. Jesus felt so strongly about this kind of person and their conduct that He compared them to snakes.
On one occasion Jesus said the following to people who lived like this—and I believe it naturally applies to everyone who falls into that category:
MATTHEW 23:25–28
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and [l]self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28 Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Then Jesus said—and how terribly tragic it would be, if Jesus were to look at me and have to say this about me:
MATTHEW 23:33
“Serpents, brood of vipers! How can you escape the condemnation of hell?”
It is also because of the behavior of people who profess to be Christians that the world, to a great extent, no longer takes Christians seriously.
In my opinion, we would also make a mistake if we thought that only a small percentage of so-called Christians live this way. There is a large—very large—percentage of Christians who live like this to a greater or lesser degree. If only most of us would realize that there is a world of difference between being religiously devout and being a disciple of Jesus. That is why Jesus also said:
MATTHEW 7:16–20
16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them.
Religious talk does not count in God’s kingdom.
MATTHEW 7:21 “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven.
What kind of fruit is Jesus talking about here—the fruit that you and I are to bear?
To me, the answer is very clear. It is the fruit of the Holy Spirit—the Holy Spirit who lives in you and me.
So, what does this fruit look like, the fruit that should, so to speak, be visibly hanging from your life and mine if the Holy Spirit of our Lord truly lives within us?
It looks like this:
GALATIANS 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 [g]gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
Wow!
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if a tourist who wanted to visit South Africa were to Google, “What is a South African like?” and read:
“A South African is loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, and kind. Also full of goodness and faithfulness, as well as gentle and self-controlled.”
That could happen—but then we, as Christians, must bear fruit worthy of repentance and raise our children to live according to what God’s Word says.
Does it sound too far-fetched to you that someone could one day Google, “What is a South African like?” and read: “A South African is loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, and kind. Also full of goodness and faithfulness, as well as gentle and self-controlled.”?
Well, perhaps you may be right. But it is within your reach and mine, if we truly work at it, that if someone were to ask,
“What is (insert your name here) like?”
the answer could be: “(Insert your name here) is loving, joyful, peaceful, patient, and kind. Also full of goodness and faithfulness, as well as gentle and self-controlled.”
It can happen, because as you have seen, our Lord expects this of us, and He will never expect anything from us that He Himself knows is beyond our ability through His grace.
One thing you and I must certainly not do – is harbor bad feelings toward those people who give the world such a poor picture of what it means to be a Christian. If we do, we allow their bad behavior to contaminate us. Rather pray for them, and show them by your own example what it truly means to be a Christian.
You see, to harbor resentment, hatred, or bitter feelings against anyone is, as I have said before, like drinking poison in the hope that the other person will die. In the end, you destroy only yourself.
So, my friend—
MATTHEW 3:8 “Bear fruit worthy of repentance.”
Sakkie