FRIDAY
Christianese If You Please
Allow me to be silly for a moment and poke fun at some of the things we say in the Evangelical Church world.
“Guard your heart”
This Christianese is biblical. Proverbs 4:23 (NIV) “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Because of the overuse of this phrase, however, I prefer the ESV, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”
Silliness aside, we would do well to heed this Proverb.
“Guard her heart”
In a dating relationship I think this means don’t place unnecessarily temptation before your girlfriend, maintain appropriate boundaries, or don’t let her fall for you too fast.
In Luke’s version of the Sermon on the Mount Jesus teaches, again, what we’ve been talking about all week.* This is apparently a big deal for Jesus.
Luke 6:43–45 43 “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. 44 Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of.
When we judge a tree’s fruit we don’t judge it by one bad apple or even by one bad season. The implication of this is that we judge the fruit over a long period of time. Everyone says a careless word, occasionally. Everyone sins. But the good tree over a period of time will produce more good fruit. So, a person genuinely made new by believing the gospel of Jesus, in-dwelt with the Holy Spirit of God (who produces good fruit Gal. 5:22-23) will produce good works and good words over time. In our modern church culture that rightly emphasizes grace, we too easily excuse our sin. We too easily miss the blessing and promise of producing good fruit in the abundant life in Christ. To miss this is a terrible tragedy.
Jesus says something similar at the end of Matthew’s account of the Sermon on the Mount.
Matthew 7:15–20 15 “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. 16 By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? 17 Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.
Here, Jesus applies this principle to how we discern true teachers from false teachers. False teachers may appear godly (in sheep’s clothing) but the inner character of the teacher is harder to see, especially from the other side of the screen or the podcast recording. Jesus encourages us to watch their character over time. Eventually, a bad tree will start to produce bad fruit. A good tree conversely, will produce better and better fruit over time. In our celebrity-driven Christian culture today, we would do well to heed Jesus’ warning and assess which teachers we trust, on their character over time.
Remember, this week we are not focusing so much on what the words we say communicate to others, but on what the words we speak say about us. Again, the burning conclusion from this week is that law is not enough, we need a new heart. This is the hope of the gospel. God promises to give his people a new heart and from this new heart, good words will flow. So, if you find you say things that are hurtful, slanderous, untrue, angry, bitter, and resentful, the place to begin is to plead with God to give you a new heart, to put his Spirit within you to transform your will and your whole inner life. Those words don’t originate from nowhere. They originate from your heart. Pray that you would desire him above all else. Desperately ask God to transform your heart. Practice examining your heart and inviting the Spirit to transform the cold, calloused areas of your inner life. From this transformed heart, you will begin to speak words of goodness. Because remember, the words you speak don’t just communicate a message to others, they reveal who you really are in your inner life.
*This could be the same moment as Matthew 5-7 or another time. Jesus taught a lot and said similar teachings on multiple occasions.