Not gonna lie, at 1st glance I was a little bit bummed to see a passage we've read before in today's devotional.
But, flowing in today's stream of consciousness, I ended up in a different place than in January.
First, I wondered, does Paul's testimony here mirror any experience I've had? Jesus has never come down and like, overtly told me what to do. But do I ever find myself being pre-Paul Saul, persecuting or bashing Christians?
Maybe. I saw these guys and they disgusted me. Are they Christians? Do they actually follow the same Christ I try to follow?
Last night, Sam Cha mentioned a conversation w/ Pastor Ben, referencing "knowing them by their fruits", which I Bing-searched this AM and is Matthew 7:16, talking about false prophets. Those yutzes aren't claiming to be prophets, but if they're throwing crosses at the guy, well, they're definitely proclaiming something ...in the same, general zip code of Christ's neighborhood.
What are the fruits? I remembered a Tim Keller sermon mentioning fruits of the Spirit. Bing told me to see Galatians 5:22-23), said fruits are: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
*So, I feel more assured now if my rebuke-a-Christian-reflex kicks in, recognizing whether or not it's justified: if someone's acting from a place that they proclaim to be from Christ, what type of fruit is that someone bearing? Is it one of the above? Because if it's not, the place you're coming from isn't Christ...
*In looking this up, I also found Matthew 7:1-6 about hypocrisy, which is a good warning that I need to always make sure that I'm coming from a place that is Spirit-rooted in origin. My rebuke should bear the very fruit I observe to be lacking. For instance with the guys above, I don't think it would be wrong to rebuke them. But it should not be to gloat in spiritual superiority. It should be to help them get back aligned with the Spirit.
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