Blessing Tree

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faith, meekness, self control Galatians 5:22-23

Fruit – My dear friend John Samuel unravels one of the great paradoxes of Scripture when he talks about the Greek word karpos (fruit).  John points out that the only entity that does not benefit from the fruit of a tree is the tree itself.  The tree cannot eat its own fruit to survive.  All fruit is produced for the benefit of another.  Considering that karpos means not only fruit but also profit, gain, the results of any action and the real measurement of judgment, it seems necessary to emphasize that in God’s economy my fruit is not supposed to be for my consumption.

God is a capitalist.  There is no question that God wants and expects returns on His investments.  He certainly understands loans, compound interest and risk management.  But God’s capitalism is pure.  It operates from the basis of a heart of love and compassion.  The goal of God’s capitalism is to bless others.  It assumes the fabric of a community where my production benefits someone else and someone else’s production benefits me.  The corruption of capitalism occurs when I divert the intended blessing of others to myself.  When the tree attempts to eat its own fruit, not only does the fruit wither, the tree dies.  The greatest tragedy of capitalism is not that it is evil but rather than it has been redirected to self.  That’s why the Bible says the love of fruit is the root of evil.  Did you think it said the love of money?  It does, of course, but fruit is just another word for gain, production or profit.  My fruit is designed to be useful and beneficial to someone else, not me.

This distributive methodology is true with the gifts of the Spirit as well.  The proper exercise of a gift given to me by God is the blessing it has for others.  So, when you read the list of the charismata in Romans 12, you need to see that the perspective is always focus on how others are blessed in the exercise of your gift.  In fact, your greatest economic opportunity lies in using your gift to benefit others.  In this passage, Paul emphasizes the same methodology in the operation of the Spirit.  Love, joy, peace, long-suffering and the rest are not initially and principally directed toward me.  They are experienced in the process of being directed toward others.  It’s not my peace that is at the top of the list.  It is the peace that God exhibits toward others through me.  And as a by-product of my use as a channel of distribution, I experience the very thing that I could never grasp for myself.

Imagine how powerful the church would be if it operated this way.  Imagine a place where I experience the presence of God because I operate as a channel of distribution.  The fruit of the Spirit flows through me to the benefit of all.  What happens to me?  I feel the power of His glory as the voltage of the Spirit passes through me.  I see the benefit as others consume the fruit of my connection to the vine.  Best of all, I know what it means to be in Christ because I am doing exactly what He did, blessing others and glorifying God.  This is divine capitalism.

Topical Index:  Profit