Discipling the Undisciplined no. 29

“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:15-20). False prophets are ravenous wolves that are known by their bad fruits. And we can recall that the fruits of the Spirit are, “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). So, the false prophets we should be looking for are looking to devour the righteous like a ravenous wolf. The false prophets are violent and bloody looking to destroy absent of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. That sounds an awful lot like Christendom.

The church has a definite false prophet vibe these days that I am hopeful is going away with the final death throes of Christendom. The centuries of collusion between church and the powers and principalities has done a lot to broaden its reach BUT has distorted and twisted the gospel. And what I see a lot of today, what I fight a lot of today, is the result of Babylon having crept into the church. Having to explain to Christians that we shouldn’t celebrate violence and war is one example of that Christendom collusion that has tainted the Good News of the Kingdom. BUT that is not the only thing I see Christians getting wrong, I see a lot of folks that put on a good face in Christian circles of friendship and love only to post hatred and create division about others, especially those with alternative political ideologies, on their social media pages. It’s not a good look. And it is a look that makes me question my association with those sorts of people . . . BUT then I remember the mission. The goal of making disciples of even these folks that are entrenched in hatred and division, folks that are entrenched in being complicit in endorsing horrible policies all because they value politics, freedom, nationalism, mammon, or whatever idol more than the Good News that Jesus the Christ brought in the gospels. 

I guess the Good News is less important than power to those folks. I just pray for repentance. I walked that road of political answers and I know it is empty. I tried to use it to find fulfillment in life and failed. Power and mammon look really attractive from the outside BUT are the ways of death. I remember Peter asking, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). That is where I am looking for hope. So, maybe the false prophets are all around us today teaching something other than “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23)? Maybe the false prophets are bloody and violent known by their bad fruits of hatred and division? 

Grace and Shalom to your home. 

#DisciplingTheUndisciplined #ThinkBetter #BeBetter #NoKingButChrist #EmbraceTheWithin #SeekFirstTheKingdom #ServeOneAnotherInLove #NotMyWayYHWH