Course Corrections - Part 2

By way of reminder, the following paragraph is a repeat from Course Corrections Part 1.

If you intend flying, your planned track takes in multiple variables to ensure you arrive at your destination, and not in the middle of a desert or somewhere unintended - oops. You must take magnetic variation into account, the density of altitudes, the wind (it changes at various heights plus it is not entirely predictable), useable/reserve fuel, and weights and balances, etc.  If you calculate the track and make a 10 degrees error (either by putting the wrong figures into your flight plan or failing to adjust for changes in wind and weather enroute) after a few hours you will be miles off course. It is where you are going that is all important: destination. The adjustments you must make may be small, but they will prove to be significant.

In this blog we will look at two other commonly misinterpreted or misapplied (off track) matters relating to our life of faith: being led by the Spirit (2), and faithfulness (3).

Part 2

Paul writing to the Galatians is at pains to help them reacclimatize to the grace of God found in Christ. The were shaky and reverting to the safety, and bondage, of Judaism for salvation, because following Jesus could be costly, which, for them, included the possibility of being ostracized from the Jewish community. Some were getting circumcised, avoiding the shame of the cross, and Paul reminded them this entails being obligated to the entire law, which is essentially impossible, aside from rejecting God’s salvation.  

On the other hand, if a person was influenced, being led, by the Holy Spirit the outcomes would be a life of Christlikeness – the fruit of the Spirit, as opposed to the works of the flesh. Galatians 5.16-26.

We have missed this point in Galatians, saying that being led by the Spirit is a life of supernatural guidance, insight and blessing. This sounds like a life in which God is speaking to you every day and telling you what to do. This sounds appealing, and some promise it, the problem being this is not what Paul is referring to – at all.

He is saying that being led by the Spirit is living a life that rejects the works of the flesh, instead exhibiting attributes such as those he enumerates in verses 22-23: love, kindness, gentleness, etc., because of the Spirit. If we don’t fulfill the works of the flesh (and it is quite the list of corruptions) we are being led (guided) by the Holy Spirit. This has little to do with the popular notion of a life of constant and specific guidance, and always. Were this to be so we would infantilize Christian maturity; we would be eternal supernatural (so called) babies. We would barely need to make up our minds based upon wisdom, experience, collaboration with God’s people, and God’s word, this being the way of God for our maturation into likeness of Jesus - a steady life of self-control and perseverance.

We will at times hear something whispered to our spirits that has profound ramifications, but this is more the exception than the rule. But to our point this is not what being led by the Spirit means.  It means being led into a lifestyle that reflects the wonder, beauty and love of Jesus expressed in ethical and moral virtues shown to others, by the Holy Spirit.

3.

Faithfulness is an admirable and desirable characteristic. It is vital for healthy relations, provided it isn’t the final arbiter of all relationships. Faithfulness can be in the wrong person, group or institution. (God asks for our faithfulness sometimes at the loss of faithfulness to others.)

Faithfulness brings to those that exhibit it, one of the most sought-after accolades: to be recognized by Jesus as a good and faithful servant. This is as good as it gets; it will be the capstone of our lives, more to be desired than all the accolades and applause of people, which pale by comparison. But, and there is a but, faithfulness is not a static character trait. Being faithful but not fruitful is no cause for celebration. We often endorse people that are faithful but not productive. We say ‘turning up’ is valuable/faithful, something to be recognized, and we don’t make judgments about a person’s reticence to involve themselves, to put up their hand to help, to make something more of their lives. We overcompensate for their underperformance, trying to be kind and inclusive and non-judgmental.

It is Jesus himself who defines faithfulness by telling us the parable of three servants who were given a certain amount of money and told to invest it, according to their capacities – which we’d assume were something already known. Each servant had a different capacity, so the money given was in accordance with this.

It is important to note they were called servants, with different expectations from their master. The money wasn’t theirs, but they were still responsible to make it work. Take note, what is ours is not ours.

When the time came for their master to return and receive an accounting of his money, we know that two were called good and faithful servants, as they’d doubled the value of their master’s income under their care/investing. They were rewarded for faithfulness, which defines for us what faithfulness is and isn’t. Faithfulness is taking something that is either given and/or the property of another and increasing its value. The person who hid their money in the ground was cast from the master’s presence. In other words, he was roundly condemned for his lack of faithfulness. He may have been nice but that doesn’t define faithfulness.

Faithfulness does not exist without fruitfulness. One can’t be faithful but not fruitful; it is a contradiction in terms. So, to claim faithfulness but show no fruitfulness is a spurious claim. Faithfulness and fruitfulness are rewarded - they go together.