Living Jesus' Teaching #9

In this ongoing series of blogs, I will put up a section of the Sermon on the Mount and ask you to simply imagine what our organization would look like if we truly lived it out. I recently did this as an exercise at a staff retreat and it went pretty well. This is not meant to be an in-depth study of the text. We did that in previous blogs, click here for those ( http://chdevotions.blogspot.com/2007_07_01_archive.html ). So just read the passage and ask what your serving (not your co-workers) would look like if you truly lived out Christ’s words. Then what would Christian Horizons look like if we all truly lived them out together. Please feel free to submit comments.

Matthew 7:15-29 (NIV)



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.
21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
22 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?'
23 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!'
24 "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.
26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.
27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
28 When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching,
29 because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.

Judge a tree by its fruit. I need to take these verses and apply them to my life. What fruit am I bearing? Am I displaying the fruit of the Spirit? Love is difficult to quantify but we know it when we see it. We need to continue to serve well and bear good fruit so that the world will know that we do what we do because we “honour God and value people in all we do and with all our resources”.

The end is especially challenging. The wise and foolish builder both claim to follow Jesus but the foolish builder does not do what he says. We need to put his words into practice.

This is the last blog in this series I hope you have enjoyed them.  Writing them has made me think.

Mark Wallace