Thinking of Fruit

The other day my best friend and I got in quite the heated debate over gender roles. Now she is a few years older than me and grew up in a different time and generation. Even with this age gap we usually met eye to eye on most issues. If we didn't I don't know that we would be as close as we are.
Anyway the subject, though never really got resolved, brought up some very interesting points. I realized that we do not see from the same point of view when it comes to religion. Now when I say religion I do mean religion and not necessarily God. We both share a deep relationship with our creator. But it became apparent that the way we perceive right and wrong may be worlds apart.

I will take most of the blame for the shift in ideas. Although we grew up at different times we did grow up with very similar  Protestant, bible belt, corporate Christianity teaching.   In my pursuit of knowledge and the overall dissatisfaction with the corporate American church I have adopted ideas and ways of thinking that I believe to be more true and less exclusive.

For so many years it almost hurt to tell someone I was a Christian because I didn't want to be mistaken for one of "them". You know those extreme bible pounding, finger pointing, down right mean people that I grew up and went to church three times a week with.

I had no problem in stating my love and devotion for the one who made me. It was guilt by association that I did not want.  So that's the way I proclaimed my faith for years and sometimes even today. But being out of the bible belt and the fact that Christianity is not so tunnelled outside of the belt I feel that I am taken more real and not some strange creature. And really I was a strange creature to both sides. Christians didn't like my "lifestyle" and didn't accept me as a real Christian. And non Christians wondered why I would be apart of a religion that hated me.

So back to the argument...umm debate. My friend tried to use the bible as proof that her statement was fact. Now I have no problem in referencing the bible but it just did not stand in this situation. We all know that the bible was written in a different time. And in different times the world is just, well different.  We do not accept slavery thing now and having a harem is usually looked down upon.  We also know that one just can't take every single thing the bible says and apply it to our lives. Such as not eating seafood or women should not speak in church or the cutting and not cutting of hair. But so many of today's Christian likes to pick and chose the rules they like and dislike so they can either point a finger or just feel a little better because they're at least not that person.

I go to a wonderful church that has no desire to conform to modern, corporate religion. Last week the message really stuck with me. It had to do with what we consider to be a great Christian. Is it studying the bible and knowing all this doctrine. Is it speaking in tongues and prophesying and healing people? Or is it going to church every time the doors are open that makes us a really good Christian?  Well Jesus said that a tree will be measured by the fruit it produces. Not how pretty the leaves are or how tall it can grow or even how well it can sing in the choir. Fruit. Jesus is most concerned with our fruit.

So I guess it really doesn't matter which of us is more right or wrong or out dated or ultra modern. What matters is what comes out of us and what we produce.  This goes along with my "makeover" for this year. I realized that I spent the last 40 years or so just living for myself and trying to make me happy. I just realized one day that it hadn't worked. So I thought it was time to try something new. Maybe make someone else happy. Time to stop feeling sorry for myself and blaming the world and God for what I don't have. Fruit. Jesus said that in the Kingdom of God what is high will be made low and what is low will be made high. Jesus came to our dirty sinful place and made himself low so that he could raise us up. If my Lord, God and savior can do that for me why can't I do that for someone else.