The Counterfeit Fruits of the Spirit
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT)
I love The Office tv show. I am absolutely one of the superfans who used the theme song in their wedding. One of my favorite scenes made me think about Paul’s letter to the Galatians and the Fruits of the Spirit.
The character, Creed, is known to be ‘not all there’; the office weirdo. While he sits happily munching an apple and working on the computer a fellow worker swiftly walks by and replaces the apple with a potato. Those watching make bets about whether Creed will notice or not. To no one’s surprise, Creed bites out a chunk of potato and happily keeps munching away, completely oblivious. He didn’t even notice the counterfeit.
What happens when we approach The Fruits of the Spirit in a similar manner? What if we have been eating counterfeit fruits without even realizing it? Thinking we are exhibiting a good, Spiritual trait only to find, upon examination, we’re producing something God didn’t intend. We can unintentionaly trade what the Spirit wants to grow in us with something the world has instead.
The problem is that counterfeit fruits can slip in and rob us of growth. They aren’t sins, they aren’t bad, they’re potatoes. While a potato may be as beneficial as an apple, in spiritual terms, we are at risk if we exchange a God thing for a good thing.
This is my reflection on the most common counterfeit fruits that take the place of true spiritual fruit in MY life. Maybe they will apply to you. Maybe you will find some different examples that resonate in your life.
Let’s take inventory and check if we are guilty of exchanging spiritual fruit for worldly fruit.
Galatians 5:22-23 (NLT)
22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
Acceptance Instead of Love
How common is this perspective? ‘If you love me, you’ll accept me just as I am.’ And if we don’t accept someone or some aspect of their life, we don’t really love them. This idea has permeated most of western culture. It is a black and white stance, when love is a grey and complex relationship. Are you guilty of holding people to this standard? Demanding full affirmation of friends and family and crying bigot or narcissist at any who resist? Do we cut people out in the name of love when really we are hurt that they have not made us feel as accepted as we think we deserve?
Happiness Instead of Joy
There could be a book on this exchange. This is one of the great paradoxes of Christianity. That our joy is not stolen in any circumstance. True spiritual joy is present in grief, heartache, danger, persecution, confusion, fear, etc. (Ps 30:5; Jn 16:22). The world will tell us that our greatest goal is to find happiness and contentment in our situation or that sadness and pain are ultimate evils. Where the proof of Joy becomes realized, however, is in the valleys of pain and darkness. Do you have joy, assurance of His goodness and presence in you, despite your circumstance? Do you doubt God as soon as your happy feelings flee?
Control Instead of Peace
Do you have peace because you feel in control? Or because you trust the sovereignty of God? Is peace robbed during crisis? When I lose control all I can do sometimes is fight to get it back. I lose my sense of peace so quickly at the slightest variables. We can take lessons from our brothers and sisters in the persecuted church here. They live under threat of losing job, house evictions, family shunning, acts of violence and even death. There is little in their control when they choose Jesus while living in countries dangerous to Christians. Have we accepted the fake fruit of control when God would have us live in His peace no matter what?
Urgency Instead of Patience
This is an obvious opposite, but we often miss it. If I may speak directly to church leaders: how much does urgency drive your mission, and does it leave any space for patience? The Gospel mission is a vital one with eternal consequences, yes, and yet the One who ushered in this Gospel was patient and calculated. When others urged Him to hurry, He was interruptible and slow. He sat at tables, rested, retreated. Are we walking in the fruit of urgency or patience?
Superficiality Instead of Kindness
I am introverted so I despise small talk, but I make room for it to be kind and friendly. However, I can easily slip into superficiality. I can just fake through it and not really connect with another person.
We can substitute superficiality for kindness to avoid conflict or uncomfortable conversations. We tell ourselves; we don’t want to be mean or rude or make someone uncomfortable. What we are doing though, is sweeping things under the rug and not being so kind as to treat that person with dignity and compassion. We are saying, ‘my comfort is more important than you.’
Moralism Instead of Goodness
Agathos is the Greek word Paul uses in Galatians 5. It is an all-encompassing word, broadly meaning all that can be good and is good. Good nature, uprightness, honorability should be a fruit coming from our lives. This has little or nothing to do with setting standards of living that make it easy for people to fail. Our goodness should be a result of the Spirit’s work within us and not the result of a sterile, rigidly moralistic environment we’ve tried to create. Do your moral standards leave room for others to grow? Does it cause you to build borders not bridges?
Loyalty Instead of Faithfulness
I have seen people be praised for their faithfulness when what was really being communicated was affirmation of loyalty. Our faithfulness should be just that: full of faith in God and His promises. This may lead us to serve genuinely and consistently with pure hearts. A sobering question to leaders: are you celebrating ‘faithfulness’ with your words when you’re honestly just grateful they’ve been ‘loyal’ and haven’t left your church (or business or whatever)?
Passivity Instead of Gentleness
The Spirit makes us gentle. The image of the lion laying next to the lamb comes to my mind. Gentility has more to do with confidence than we realize. It is the loudest voice that is the most insecure in their position. While Jesus spoke provocatively and inciting, he was always gentle. But let us not commit the error of being so gentle that we don’t speak at all, that we become passive, that we don’t complete our calling.
Purity Instead of Self-control
The WHOLE self should be under control by the help of the Holy Spirit in us. Not so we can remain pure but we can withstand temptation and impurity around us. Our self-control goes well beyond our sexual ethics but unfortunately a lot of Church practice stops there. Lust all you want just don’t get a girl pregnant. Scream at referees at the soccer match as long you’re faithful to your husband. Are you bringing your whole self into submission of the Spirit? Are you giving yourself a break since you’re doing well in the ‘big sin’ areas?
May we not fall victim to shallow substitutes for God’s power in us. May we be continually transformed in mind, soul, and body that we should show the world the fruit of the Spirit and bring light into the darkness.
(and remember to eat your vegetables too!)