Fruit Inspectors

  

The Christian Mingle Inspector..

     If I have done it correctly, this blog should link to the above video that I enjoyed on Facebook  It humorously points out the clipboard criteria by which we judge other Christians (and churches).  Believers have been beaten to death with the verse "Judge not lest you be judged", mostly by unbelievers. And they are right, if in judging we look down on others as if we were superior. Us Christians / Them Sinners, when the truth is Us Christian Sinners. But the Bible also says, the spiritual man judges all things and to discern the validity of a teaching by the teacher's fruit. So we are not judges, but we can be fruit inspectors. Genuine faith changes your choices. So let's review what fruit is.

   Fruit is: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control.
   Fruit is not:

• Appearance:   The Biblical principle is not to judge by outward appearance (1 Sam 16:7, Jn 7:24), but that is 180 degrees opposite of how we are wired. We love to judge based on how people are dressed, hair length/style/color. And the current trend of tattoos and piercings make our job of judging that much easier. We are also to be focused on our character more than outward beauty.
• Clothing:  This is part of appearance, but it has it's own separate principle, modesty. Unless God is going to appear on a mountain top, even cleanliness is not required. Jesus ministered in the midst of messy people. There is no Biblical dress standard aside from not being overly focused on clothing. If suits and dresses are the standard, Jehovah Witnesses are good Christians.
• Music style:  There is no Biblical standard, but from the instruments listed, Jewish music was a lot spunkier than many Christians consider proper. I am a Christian who prefers wooden instruments and music written in 3/4 time, but I don't presume that is God's standard. The principle is whether what you listen to draws you closer to or further from God. That which is not of faith is sin. (Rom. 14:23)
• Books/movies/media:  The same principle as above applies. Selecting radio stations, movies, books etc. from a Christian genre may lessen the danger of worldly influence, but we should apply Biblical discernment to both secular and sacred media. For myself, listening to too much news talk programming, even if it's Christian based, makes me doubt God's sovereignty and have difficulty obeying Phil. 4:8. When that starts to happen, I shut it off.  Well informed worry is still sin.
• A church like mine:  The principle to apply for selecting a home church is that it faithfully teaches, and upholds the standards of, the Bible. Period. The rest is preference. We are blessed to live in a country where there are more varieties of churches than Baskin-Robbins flavors. But we need to remember, once we are safely ensconced in our preferred church home, that worship is not one style fits all.
• Trappings:  Bumper stickers/logos/art/etc.can be good reminders to us and testimony to unbelievers. But if we do not display the fruit of the Spirit as listed above, we should probably take down the trappings. No witness at all is better than a poor one. Unbelievers and our children can spot hypocrisy from a quarter mile away.              

          If the video points out the humor of judging by shallow standards, the gospels point out the tragedy. Christ himself didn't pass inspection. And in judging Him, his judges condemned themselves. If we are judged by the standard with which we judge others (Mt. 7:2), I want to be as kind as possible. Fruit inspectors also have to pass inspection.