PRODUCE OR NOT PRODUCE

Exodus 8:23 I will make a distinction between My people and your people.

Romans 14:23b everything not from faith is sin.

How is a disciple of Jesus identified? John 15:8 states a disciple glorifies the Father by producing much spirit fruit. Fruit producers must have a daily renounced approach to all interactions.

The self-serving crowd has identifiers too, the distinction between ‘My people and your people.’ The Christian Crowd has a buy-in to the story of Christmas and Easter for salvation, but often treats God like a Genie in a Bottle, calling on Him when something is amiss or when there is a desire of the heart. The crowd follows Jesus because they know there is blessing around the corner; that wherever Jesus is, there is bound to be a dinner. An ego-centric approach, the crowd asks the question, “What’s in it for me?”

The producing disciple understands and is committed to producing spirit-fruit, and they know what it takes to produce it: an imitating Jesus-Walk and a suffering cross. Jesus has a heart for the Christian Crowd and desires that they too become spirit producing disciples, but there is a huge distinctive chasm between 'my people and your people'.

Fruit producing disciples have specific identifiers. They are HUNGRY, searching God as for buried treasure, desiring Him, pursuing Him and knocking relentlessly on His door. They walk in HUMILITY, renouncing the self, outwardly in fleshly appearance as well as the inward invisible way of releasing pride and ego. They aren’t always HAPPY, but the joy they produce is their strength, and that joy sustains them through the agonizing narrow gate where humility leads them. The HOPE they have comes from that fruit-production of long-suffering, which produces perseverance and character, which can and will be seen and approved from and among any by-standers.

“I will make a distinction between My people and your people.” The distinction between the Christian Crowd and the producing disciple is huge. The difference is between attending church and being committed to the Twenty Commands, in the very same way that the Ten Commandments was the distinction between God’s people and the surrounding Canaanite pagans. The Ten Commandments kept God’s people from behaving like people of immoral character and kept them from worshiping the gods of their day and surrounding culture in which they lived.

In the same vein, the Twenty Commands extend the requirements for worship and character of Christ: Truth, Humility, Righteousness, Compassion, Justice and Mercy. Only a commitment to the Walk and the Commands of Jesus can a person consistently produce spirit fruit, thus proving the main feature of a disciple – the imitation of Jesus.

Humility is the major distinction between ‘My people and your people.’ If humility is not present, any attempt to imitate Jesus is fake and phony and ends up looking like the Christian Crowd. And if it is fake and phony, it is sin. The careful disciple is always on guard, on the lookout for opportunities to produce fruit. Paul says that the greatest spirit-fruit is agape (translated from the Greek Bible as, generous concern, devotedness or priority). After generous concern is faith and then hope (1 Corinthians 13:13). When a disciple walks a Jesus-Walk, the Commands come naturally, and faith is produced. But be forewarned, there is a learning curve.