Galatians 5:16-24

16 So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. 17 For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. 18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law. 19 The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; 20 idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions 21 and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24 Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires.

Thoughts from Pastor Joe

Apologetic of Reality

Often when Christians speak of an apology, they're not talking about regret, sorrow, remorse, or contrition. They're talking of an argument or two in defense of truth statements proposed by proponents of the Christian faith. Christian apologetics argues for the reasonableness and logic that make Christian belief believable. There is a place for this. Yet as I observe this practice, too often our arguments are over-seasoned, spiced with too much arrogance, ignorance, or Tabascoy venom to be believed. As I said, arguments have their place. There are many gifted apologists out there who are able to argue in loving ways that give people compelling reasons to believe. Too often, though, would-be apologists seem less concerned with compelling belief in others than they are with cultivating a sense of superiority within themselves. I'm deliberately leaving names out of this because you already know who the good and bad apologists are. And in case you don't, check out what Jesus said about how to tell the difference between the two. He said we would know them by their "fruits." "Healthy trees," he said, bear "good fruit," but diseased trees bear "bad fruit."[1] So what is the good and bad fruit of apologetics? From the context it would seem that good and bad fruit have to do with obedience and disobedience to the will of God as Jesus presents it within his sermon on the mount. [2] Paul's short lists of "the works of the flesh," and "the fruit of the Spirit" also help us hone our apologetic discernment. So for my money, (and I'll add my two cents here), the best apologetic is the life of the apologist. To me, there is no more compelling reason to believe (or to think about believing) than the real, everyday life example of believers. In the age of reality TV, we need an Apologetic of Reality. If we cannot argue silently through our actions and attitudes, then our verbal arguments for the reasonableness of our faith become an unreasonable waste of breath, and perhaps a persuasive reason to remain agnostic. It's amazing, though, how compellingly our lives can argue. Our doing simple justice, our loving kindness and mercy, and our walking humbly with our God[4] do more to engage people in conversation about Jesus, or draw them in his direction than any classical, presuppositional, or evidential argument I've ever heard. So even though I agree that arguments have their place, I think that most of the time they are over used and ineffective. People don't usually become flaming believers after being burned by believers in a fiery argument. They're more likely to dig in, to hunker down, or to go on the attack themselves - to fight fire with fire - because they feel threatened by our aggressive or disingenuous tactics - and not because they're "uninterested in talking about spiritual things," as apologists sometimes wrongly conclude without ever questioning their own approach. The Bible gives us a better approach to apologetics, an Apologetics of Reality. It tells us to always be prepared to give a reason for the hope that we have, which usually emerges in our times of hardship or suffering. (By the way, it also says that our testimony of hope should be shared with gentleness and respect, an all too overlooked clause.)[5] Jesus taught that people would know that we are his disciples by the way we love one another. Love is a hugely compelling argument that provides people with persuasive reasons to believe.[6] In another place, Jesus taught that if we would let our good works shine like lights before people, they would recognize God as the source of our works and give him glory. [7] Christians living as hopeful, loving, good people in a broken and troubled world are a powerfully persuasive Apologetic of Reality. [1] Matthew 7:15-19[2] Matthew 5-7, Luke 6[3] Galatians 5:16-24[4] Micah 6:8[5] 1 Peter 3:15[6] John 13:34[7] Matthew 5:16