Fruits of the Kingdom

As we continue the discussion of “what the Church should look like in Europeand how it is to function within a post-modern & post-secular culture?”– we need to not forget the criteria Jesus used to recognize His Church, He said, “Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Therefore by their fruits you will know them” (Matt 7:15-20).

Later Jesus spoke to His disciples about what these ‘fruits’ looked like – they were not religious piety and institutional formalities – but acts of love and true compassion for our neighbors, who may even be our enemies. Our acts of love and compassion are not to be reserved for only those we like or think deserve our charity. The Church is to love unconditionally, without merit.

“I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ … ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’(Matt 25:31-40).

As Chris Vermeulen’s article showed (24.09.2010), many Churches are no-longer fulfilling this criteria above – many Churches are not producing the ‘fruit’ Jesus demands – will these trees be cut down, as Jesus said they would? Some recent research done among the Churches in the USrevealed some shocking evidence (Barna ISBN: 1-86920-711-4). This research divided 77 million confessing Christians into TWO basic groups:

a) FaithfulChurchattendees / members and

b) Those not attending a regular Church but participating in a regular Christian meeting other than Church.

To cut a long story short – the general experience was that the regular Church attendees were rather passive in ‘acts of compassion’ and the ‘expression of their faith’, outside the confines of the Church congregation and on Sundays. The general feeling was that Church was a Sunday experience and ‘happened’ once a week. The Church Leader was seen as responsible for the Believer’s spiritual welfare and nutrition. The Church Leader was the Preacher of the Gospel (“this is what we pay him for..!”); the poor were fed and visited by the ministry team, so individual acts of charity were unnecessary; and the Church Leader was the Community Spoke’s Person, so individual Christians need not get involve in social issues in society.

In comparison to the other group, those who dared to admit they did not regularly attend Church or were members of a local Congregation, but were passionate about the Gospel and their faith, these people were found to be very “Kingdom minded”. They saw Church as a community of people living among society as salt and light, and were intended to be “integrated to affect”. Primarily they took responsibility for their own spiritual growth, spending time daily in individual prayer and study. Church was a lifestyle not a weekly event. The responsibility rested upon all to preach the Gospel and acts of love and compassion towards society at large was a way of daily life, while looking for opportunities to share their faith.

In general, this non-church attending group (Group B), showed more ‘Fruit’ than those attending Church. NB: These are the general findings based on the research results. These findings should NOT cause us to ‘replace’ Church or ‘do away’ with it – but compel us to look at how we ‘do’ Church and what we need to change in our Churches in order for our Churches to produce the ‘Fruit’ Jesus demands of us.

Eurochurch.net is committed to this debate – For us in Europe, how can we be the Church Jesus seeks?

+Tony Palmer