Terry and I keep a couple of fruit bowls out in the kitchen. As I reached for a lemon to use in one of my recipes the other night, I noticed a couple of the apples we bought were already rotten. I reached for the one next to the rotten apple and as soon as I touched it, it was soft. Clearly, we need to be eating our fruit, faster. But that rotten apple left an image in my mind about what you and I are supposed to look and smell like, as lovers of Jesus.
What a year last Wednesday was.
I feel like 2020 and all of the emotions came to a head, Wednesday, January 6, 2021.
For yayas, I looked up the formal description/definition of a few words in order to compare and contrast.
The first word? Patriot. Dictionary.com defines the word patriot as, “a person who loves, supports and defends his or her country and its interests with devotion.”
The second word? Terrorist. Dictionary.com defines the word terrorist as, “a person, usually a member of a group, who uses or advocates terrorism.” (Terrorism officially defined on the same site is, “the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.”)
The third word? Christian. Dictionary.com defines the word Christian as, “of or relating to, or derived from Jesus Christ or his teachings.”
The fourth word? Christlike. Dictionary.com defines the word Christlike as, “like Christ, showing the spirit of Christ.”
The rioting we saw Wednesday … and this pains me so terribly to write, including by many people who claimed to be Christians, did not reflect Christ or the spirit of Christ. For that matter, the flags we saw that said, “Jesus and Trump,” do not reflect Christianity. Jesus does not need to have His name on a flag. You and I are to be the flags, “waving” (living) for Him. Furthermore, if you do put the name of Jesus on a flag, the space on that flag is shared with no one. No other name should be equal, next to, above or below a flag with the name Jesus on it. If it is … it is an idol.
The behavior we saw by the “Patriots” who stormed the Capitol do not reflect the teachings of Jesus Christ.
“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus by their fruit you will recognize them.” - Matthew 7:15-20 (NIV)
If I am someone who knows little to nothing about Jesus and Christianity, but I sat in my living room in Middle America, in Central America, in South America, in New Zealand, or in Hong Kong for that matter, watching the events unfold on live television; I’m going to go out on a limb and say I did not see people acting Christlike.
I did, however, see people acting like terrorists. Remember how the dictionary defined them? “The use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce, especially for political purposes.”
Jesus does not need a ton of 5.56 armor piercing ammo, a Tavor X95 assault rifle, a 9MM Glock 19 handgun, and about a hundred rounds of ammunition. That, by the way, was just what one man who was involved in last Wednesday's “rally” had in his truck.
It is also not Christlike to wish death upon House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, or Vice President Mike Pence.
By their fruit you will recognize them.
By our fruit, they will recognize us.
You all know about my background and that I spent years studying political science in college and years working in politics. But I’m leaving the politics in a box on the shelf right now. I am far more concerned about the figurative flags you and I are waving for Jesus.
Those flags are our bodies. Our words. Our actions. Are we promoting Him above all? Or do we have another idol we are representing?
Do they recognize us as a good fruit, sweet apple?
Or do they recognize us as a rotten, bad apple?