The Fruit of the Spirit
I will be making a short presentation on this topic on Loma Linda Broadcasting Network Saturday morning (10:30 PST). So I thought I would welcome the new year by sharing the essence of that presentation here. I also hope to post some reflections on Christmas before the weekend is over.
In the Bible the main place where the “fruit of the Spirit” concept is found is in Galatians 5:22-23. This is figurative language. When it comes to spiritual matters it is very difficult to use direct speech. God is real, yet very few human beings have ever seen, heard or touched Him in any way (Moses and Jesus are examples of exceptions). So when it comes to spiritual matters, we generally use metaphors, analogies or other figures of speech.
For example, when it comes to salvation, the Bible frequently makes use of law court metaphors. The human condition is described in terms of guilt and condemnation. We are legally out of synch with God. Salvation is then described in legal terms such as justification, acquittal and vindication. On the other hand, if the human condition is described in terms of debt (a banking or financial metaphor), the appropriate salvation word would be forgiveness or possibly redemption. People often treat such language as if it were scientifically precise with reference to salvation (which itself is a metaphor based either in the realm of rescue operations or healing), but it is actually metaphorical, speaking about something beyond the five senses in the language of concrete, everyday existence (“concrete” itself is here a figure of speech!).
The Bible also uses metaphors when it comes to expressing Christian community. For example, Paul speaks about the church as the “body of Christ” (1 Cor 12:27; Eph 4:12), an analogy based on the human body. Christ is the head of the church and individual believers can be described as various parts of a body, some more critical to survival than others, but all useful. Another metaphor speaks of a temple, with Christ as the cornerstone and each believe as a brick or stone out of which the temple is constructed (1 Pet 2:4-10). Both the body and the temple metaphors express the essential unity of the church, while the body metaphor also describes the diversity in function of those who make up the Christian community.
The “fruit of the Spirit” describes Christian character growth, in contrast to the “gifts of the Spirit” (1 Cor 12:28-31– which combines analogies of body and gifts), which focus more on abilities than virtues. It is an agricultural metaphor. Fruit grows on trees and trees grow in soil. Agricultural metaphors can be used to express a variety of spiritual concepts, in Galatians 5 the fruit expresses qualities of character, such as love, joy, peace, kindness and patience.
Horticultural analogies are very fruitful (metaphor alert!) in describing spiritual life. Let me close with a few examples. 1) The deeper the roots, the stronger the plant. It won’t fall over in times of storm and stress. The root of spiritual life is found in relationship with God (John 15:1-7 is an agricultural metaphor expressing this, although “fruit” there is describing the outcome of the disciples’ evangelistic efforts rather than character qualities). 2) Plants are healthier when they are pruned. Christians need to deal with emotional and personal issues if they wish to grow spiritually. 3) Shallow-rooted plants need others around them to hold them up (the importance of a spiritual community, especially for new believers). 4) Food, water and sunshine are not normally generated from inside of a plant, they come from the outside. The healthiest kind of spiritual life comes by looking outward rather than inward. 5) In order to be healthy, nutrition needs to be supplied to plants in a certain balance. Too much of one nutrient and too little of another has a detrimental effect. Spiritual communities that focus only on one spiritual metaphor are rarely healthy. 6) The same plant can look quite different if located in the middle of a desert or by a river. Plants are affected by their environment and adapt to it. The spiritual environment in which we place ourselves has a powerful impact on our lives.
Obviously, metaphors have their limits and can even be dangerous. It is easy to switch from reality to analogy and turn the conversation in directions that the Bible doesn’t support without people even noticing the shift. While we need metaphors to describe spiritual life, we also need to be careful in their use. In light of the above, I invite you to have a fresh look at Galatians 5:22-23.
In the Bible the main place where the “fruit of the Spirit” concept is found is in Galatians 5:22-23. This is figurative language. When it comes to spiritual matters it is very difficult to use direct speech. God is real, yet very few human beings have ever seen, heard or touched Him in any way (Moses and Jesus are examples of exceptions). So when it comes to spiritual matters, we generally use metaphors, analogies or other figures of speech.
For example, when it comes to salvation, the Bible frequently makes use of law court metaphors. The human condition is described in terms of guilt and condemnation. We are legally out of synch with God. Salvation is then described in legal terms such as justification, acquittal and vindication. On the other hand, if the human condition is described in terms of debt (a banking or financial metaphor), the appropriate salvation word would be forgiveness or possibly redemption. People often treat such language as if it were scientifically precise with reference to salvation (which itself is a metaphor based either in the realm of rescue operations or healing), but it is actually metaphorical, speaking about something beyond the five senses in the language of concrete, everyday existence (“concrete” itself is here a figure of speech!).
The Bible also uses metaphors when it comes to expressing Christian community. For example, Paul speaks about the church as the “body of Christ” (1 Cor 12:27; Eph 4:12), an analogy based on the human body. Christ is the head of the church and individual believers can be described as various parts of a body, some more critical to survival than others, but all useful. Another metaphor speaks of a temple, with Christ as the cornerstone and each believe as a brick or stone out of which the temple is constructed (1 Pet 2:4-10). Both the body and the temple metaphors express the essential unity of the church, while the body metaphor also describes the diversity in function of those who make up the Christian community.
The “fruit of the Spirit” describes Christian character growth, in contrast to the “gifts of the Spirit” (1 Cor 12:28-31– which combines analogies of body and gifts), which focus more on abilities than virtues. It is an agricultural metaphor. Fruit grows on trees and trees grow in soil. Agricultural metaphors can be used to express a variety of spiritual concepts, in Galatians 5 the fruit expresses qualities of character, such as love, joy, peace, kindness and patience.
Horticultural analogies are very fruitful (metaphor alert!) in describing spiritual life. Let me close with a few examples. 1) The deeper the roots, the stronger the plant. It won’t fall over in times of storm and stress. The root of spiritual life is found in relationship with God (John 15:1-7 is an agricultural metaphor expressing this, although “fruit” there is describing the outcome of the disciples’ evangelistic efforts rather than character qualities). 2) Plants are healthier when they are pruned. Christians need to deal with emotional and personal issues if they wish to grow spiritually. 3) Shallow-rooted plants need others around them to hold them up (the importance of a spiritual community, especially for new believers). 4) Food, water and sunshine are not normally generated from inside of a plant, they come from the outside. The healthiest kind of spiritual life comes by looking outward rather than inward. 5) In order to be healthy, nutrition needs to be supplied to plants in a certain balance. Too much of one nutrient and too little of another has a detrimental effect. Spiritual communities that focus only on one spiritual metaphor are rarely healthy. 6) The same plant can look quite different if located in the middle of a desert or by a river. Plants are affected by their environment and adapt to it. The spiritual environment in which we place ourselves has a powerful impact on our lives.
Obviously, metaphors have their limits and can even be dangerous. It is easy to switch from reality to analogy and turn the conversation in directions that the Bible doesn’t support without people even noticing the shift. While we need metaphors to describe spiritual life, we also need to be careful in their use. In light of the above, I invite you to have a fresh look at Galatians 5:22-23.
If you ask me which species in this world has the least common sense, I would definitely say it is humans. We claim that we are the most intelligent species of all and yet we find that we are the most disgracing of all of them. Just look at ourselves! Drugs, Rape, Murder, Homosexuality and what else! And more than all of them is our refusal to accept Jesus Christ as the savior even at the last moment!
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