Where's Your ID?

A couple hours ago, Rachel and I got back home from Bakery BINGO, a school event sponsored by the PTO. I had left work at about 4 o'clock and gone to my parents' house to pick Rachel up. Once in the house, I realized I was still wearing my staff ID. We chatted awhile and then left for Bakery BINGO. Once again, I forgot to take off my lanyard. Consequently, I was probably the only person at the after-school event wearing their work ID.

School ID's are a new thing this year at Findlay High School. Some of the students are having a very hard time adjusting to remembering to wear their IDs every day. Unlike me, who sometimes forgets to take it off, many students leave theirs at home, or in their book bag, or out of sight in their pockets...which of course defeats the purpose of having the ID in the first place.

So, what is the purpose of the ID, anyway? It is a security measure to help differentiate who belongs in the school and who does not. The ID is intended to be the sign of a student, faculty, or staff member at the school.

Most of the faculty and staff have accepted this requirement. Many students are struggling. Some put on their ID when a teacher tells them they have to, and remove it as soon as the teacher isn't looking. They stash it in their pocket or their purse. Anyplace other than clearly visible as the rules state. I can almost guarantee that 99% of even the most compliant students take it off the instant they leave the building. The trouble is, when the ID is not worn regularly and properly, it is often lost or forgotten.

The ID of the Believer

What about the ID God wants His children to wear? What is it that He intends to be the identifying mark of a believer? The Apostle Paul writes:

"The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. (Galatians 5:22-23a)

The fruit of the Spirit. THAT is the ID of the Christian. Do we wear our IDs all the time? Or only when we have to? 

• Are we allowing God to grow patience in our hearts, or do we feel perfectly justified in letting patience fly out the window when someone cuts us off on the road?
• Are our lives characterized by peace in the midst of difficult circumstances, or is peace nowhere to be found as soon as something goes wrong?
• Are we consistently gentle with others? Not weak, mind you, but gentle. Or does gentleness get hidden away when it is not convenient?
• Are we careful to display the fruit of the Spirit at church, and then stash it away when we get home to our families where fruit like patience, kindness, and peace is suddenly nowhere to be found.

I understand that we are all works in progress. No one has perfectly developed fruit of the Spirit in their lives. Growing fruit is the ID of the Christian. In some believers, the fruit is more mature than in others. But we all should have fruit at some stage of maturity growing in our lives. 

As long as we are listening to the Holy Spirit, His fruit will grow in us. When we ignore Him because it is not convenient to listen, the fruit withers away. Then, when we see that we need it...oops!...it isn't where we thought it was. 

Let's be sure to always wear our ID. Listen to the Holy Spirit and let Him grow His fruit in us.

Counterfeit Self-Control

Starfruit (belimbing in Indoensian) is not my favorite tropical fruit, so maybe that makes it a good representative of self-control. Although I don't particularly like the flavor, the star shape certainly does look pretty on a fruit platter. We might not appreciate self-control as much as we appreciate joy and peace, but it is a necessary beautiful fruit that the Holy Spirit wants to grow in us.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

(Galatians 5:22-23)

We come at last to the end of the list of the fruit of the Spirit. As I read this list, I see that most of the nine fruits mentioned here either refer to how we act or react to others (love, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness). Others seem to refer to a general state of being…what we are like deep in our hearts (joy, peace, patience).

Then, we come to self-control. Somehow, self-control seems to require a category all its own. It isn’t necessarily a state of being that simply comes to characterize us. Neither is it something that we do to or toward others.

No, self-control requires us to actively discipline ourselves, to consciously decide, at God's direction, what things we will and will not do, say, see, think, etc.

1 Corinthians 6:12 says,

“I have the right to do anything,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “I have the right to do anything”—but I will not be mastered by anything.

Starfruit is beautiful on the plate.

“Real deal” self-control carries the idea that nothing but God Himself is to master us. It might be easy to sit back and think that we are doing pretty well in that area. After all, obviously, an alcoholic needs to be certain alcohol does not become the master. Drug addicts struggle with self-control. Some people really need to work on getting control of explosive anger.

Hold on a minute, though. What about all those seemingly innocent things that can master us. What about that coffee or soda that you know you drink too much of? (Yes, Mom, I’m still working on that.) What about the extra hour on Facebook that might have been better spent with family? What about the insistence that your way of doing something is the right way?

Huh? What? Doesn’t that last one kind of jump out as being different than the others? It should. It is.

Counterfeit Self-Control

The way I see it is this. The insistence that the way I do something is the right way may indeed reflect self-control when applied to my own life. It may reflect a deep inner conviction that God has truly called me to discipline myself in a particular area.

That conviction crosses the line into counterfeit self-control if I try to insist that everyone else has to do it the way God has called me to do it. If they don’t share my same conviction, they are obviously wrong.

I am not talking here about things that are obviously black and white. (Murder is wrong. Don’t do it.) Nor am I talking about an “If it feels good, do it” philosophy.

I am speaking of the myriad of things that believers are perfectly free to do and experience and still be within God’s will for them. God may call some of His children to forego their “freedom” to enjoy a particular thing, but He doesn’t call all to do this.

Is it fruit or are they flowers? (See clip here)

Let me share a couple examples

There are the ordinary, everyday things. Things like, there is only one “right way” to make the bed, vacuum the carpet, wash the car, mow the lawn, load the dishwasher…and the list goes on. It may be true that one way works better or is more efficient, but it isn’t necessarily the only “right way”. We cross into counterfeit self-control if we insist that our “right way” is the only “right way”, and everyone who does it differently is, of course, wrong. These things don't even really involve a conviction from God. They are merely acquired habits.

Here is a cultural example. In most areas of the country where I live, the majority of people will not eat pork for reasons of faith. Believers in Jesus who live here have the freedom to eat bacon if they want to. Most choose not to have this food in their homes so as not to offend their neighbors, or make their neighbors feel it is “unsafe” to eat anything offered to them when the neighbors come to visit. That is self-control. However, if that believer turns around and insists that I am wrong to eat bacon for breakfast, and that I should share the same conviction as they do, that crosses into counterfeit self-control. (By the way, in the area where I live, eating pork is not a problem to the majority. I still rarely eat it because I like chicken better.)

Now for a personal example. There are certain themes that exist in movies, novels, TV shows, and even news stories that paint very vivid, dark pictures in my mind that I have a hard time kicking out of my thoughts. This used to be a bigger problem than it is now. Perhaps I rarely struggle with thoughts like these any more because I have exercised self-control and do not feed my mind with these types of themes. For me, watching CSI in all its variations is just not something I will do. But if I insist that you are wrong to watch CSI, I cross the line into counterfeit self-control.

I must admit that I personally can’t see how CSI is particularly wholesome. I guess it seems to fall into the “but not everything is beneficial” category. Even so, it is not my place to force my conviction that I should not watch that show onto anyone else. I need to let God do that.

Self-Control or Controlling Others

see clip here

Counterfeit self-control isn’t self-control at all. It is legalism. It is an attempt to control others. It is an effort to “play God” in someone else’s life. Legalism tries to impose iron-clad laws when actually, God allows freedom.

If God’s “real-deal” fruit of self-control is growing in us, we can exercise self-control in the areas where God calls us to do so, while allowing others the freedom to listen to God’s voice for themselves.

Time for Reflection

• Think of at least one area where God has impressed upon you that you should either do or not do a certain thing in a certain way.
• Do you find yourself somewhat shocked when another believer does not share your conviction?
• Is this a truly black and white area that God calls all to observe, or is it something that He actually does not either approve or forbid?
• Is there any area of legalism that you need to release in your life…either for yourself or for others?
• Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal these to you.

Counterfeit Gentleness

With its hard protective shell, coconut has an interesting parallel to gentleness.
By the way, you don't want to park your car under a tree that looks like this.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

(Galatians 5:22-23)

I have a confession to make. When I started this series about the Fruit of the Spirit, I made a list of the various fruit and what I saw as their counterfeits. From the very beginning, I was anxious to get to this one because it is something I feel very strongly about. Now, it is time to write about it. I still feel strongly, but I have been faced today with a difficult situation to which this post applies. As I write, I will be speaking as much to myself as anyone else.

Counterfeit Faithulness

 

I thought jackfruit, or nangka, as it is known in Indonesia, is quite appropriate to represent counterfeit faithfulness. Read on to find out why. I'll put a few pictures of this fruit into this post...just because they are so interesting. 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

(Galatians 5:22-23)

I must admit had a bit of a difficult time identifying the counterfeit of faithfulness. I looked at a number of different verses that used the word. Actually, the Greek word used in Galatians, is translated in a two ways: faith…and faithfulness.

"Real Deal" Faithfulness

There was a long string of definitions for this word, too. Most of them had to do with faith that is directed toward God.

That long string of definitions also referred to the word we translate as faithfulness. Faithfulness has to do with the one who inspires faith. When we talk about the faithfulness of God, we speak of an aspect of His character. This is the portion of the definition that applies here.

Counterfeit Goodness

It took me awhile to appreciate passion fruit (markisa, in Indonesian). The fruit looks very pretty on the outside, but I must admit that I kind of lost my appetite when I saw the inside of the fruit for the first time. But here's the thing. When this fruit is mixed into a fruit salad, it just kind of blends in and adds its flavor without being noticed. Some people enjoy slurping the entire gob of slippery pulp and seeds at one gulp, enjoying the fruit outright. Passion fruit may be noticed by the "slurpers" or unconsciously enjoyed in a fruit salad. Noticed or not, passion fruit, like "real deal" goodness adds its flavor wherever it goes.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

(Galatians 5:22-23)

As we continue looking at the Fruit of the Spirit, and the counterfeits of each one, we come to the spiritual fruit of goodness.

The word good is used so freely and in so many situations that it may lose some of the meaning intended when referring to the fruit of the Spirit. How do we use this word?

“Do you want another cup of coffee?” “No, I’m good.”

“He’s a really good guy.”

“That’s a really good book!”

“I’m having a really good day today.”

“Eat lots of fresh veggies so you get all the natural goodness of the vitamins.”

Counterfeit Kindness

I don’t know about you, but I have learned a lot myself as I have written these past few posts. We have looked at self-centered lust that often substitutes itself for other-centered love. We have considered how happiness often masquerades as joy. We have seen how avoidance is the counterfeit of peace. Finally, we the “real deal” spiritual fruit of hope-filled patience being supplanted by hopeless mere resignation. Let’s continue now with the fifth in the list of the fruit of the Spirit. Let’s consider what counterfeit often passes itself off as kindness.
 

Mangoes are probably my favorite tropical fruit. Deliciously sweet when ripe, I really don't enjoy the green mangoes which are eaten here with a spicy sauce. Spicy fruit just doesn't appeal to me. "Real deal" ripeness is what I love.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

(Galatians 5:22-23)

 

We all enjoy people who are kind. They are pleasant to be around. Kind people will reach out with help where help is needed. Kind people are considerate, careful of the feelings of others. Someone who exemplifies the spiritual gift of kindness has these things rooted in their character. Such a person sounds like someone I’d like to be around. How about you?

I’d like to point out one of those descriptions that, when out of balance, turns kindness into a counterfeit. Kind people are careful of other people’s feelings.

Counterfeit Patience

Rambutan doesn't look very inviting from the outside, but with patience, you break through the tough skin, and what is inside is sweet and delicious.

In the last few posts, we have considered the first three in the list of the fruit of the Spirit. We also looked at their counterfeits - at the characteristics that masquerade as the “real deal” fruit the Holy Spirit wants to grow in us.

Now, let’s look at the fourth item in the list. Let’s look at patience.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

(Galatians 5:22-23)

What is Patience?

I believe most people would admit to not being very patient. We want things when we want them. That is usually sooner, rather than later. I don’t think that encompasses all that patience means.

Counterfeit Peace

Snakefruit (or salak) is rough and scaly on the outside. But if you work through to the inside of a ripe fruit, the flesh has an interesting, tangy taste that admittedly not everyone appreciates. I have discovered, though that snakefruit makes an absolutely delicious substitution for apples in a pie if you cook them slightly first. Like seeking peace in the midst of difficult relationships, the outcome is well worth the effort.

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

(Galatians 5:22-23)

May I ask you a question? Yes? OK. Now, please take time to answer it to yourself before reading on.

What characterizes your life when peace is lacking?

Do you have an answer? Most likely, your first thoughts contained words like “frantic, turmoil, tension, fighting, shouting, indigestion”. When we think of a life lacking in peace, we often think in opposites. Things that are so different that there is no doubt peace is lacking.

In this series, we are not looking at the easily recognizable opposites to each of the fruits of the Spirit. We are looking at the counterfeits to the “real deal” spiritual fruit that the world...or Satan...tries to pass off as genuine.

Counterfeit Joy

Dragon fruit is absolutely delicious.

“Real deal” fruit and counterfeit fruit. God’s Holy Spirit is in the business of cultivating the first in the lives of God’s people. The world is busily trying to convince us that its counterfeit fruit is all we need. All we want.
 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

(Galatians 5:22-23)

We’ve already seen how different genuine, outward-focused love is from the counterfeit fruit of self-focused lust.

Now, let’s take a look at the next “real deal” fruit in the list. Joy.

Counterfeit Love

image

In this series, we are looking at each of the fruit of the Spirit listed by Paul in Galatians 5:22-23. 

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

(Galatians 5:22-23)

As I look at this list, it strikes me that each one of the “real deal” fruit that the Holy Spirit grows in the life of believers has a corresponding counterfeit.

The first spiritual fruit in Paul’s list is love. The Holy Spirit grows love in the life of a believer.

"Real Deal" Fruit or Counterfeit Fruit?

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.

(Galatians 5:22-23)

For nearly twenty years, I have lived on the beautiful tropical island of Bali, Indonesia. One of the really, really nice things about living here is the vast variety of interesting and delicious fruit that is available here.