By Their Fruits

If I were to ask you the name of the primary spokesman for Global Warming (I'm sorry, "global climate change"), I'm pretty sure that no one would think of anyone first besides Al Gore. He has been the loudest voice warning about anthropogenic global warming for some time. Indeed, in 2007 he won a Nobel Peace Prize for it. Now, that's all well and good, but I have to ask, "Does Al Gore actually believe in anthropogenic global warming?" Sure, it may sound like a silly question to start. After all, he is the loudest voice. But the reason I ask is, well, he doesn't seem to be doing anything about it. He lives in a huge, energy-consuming house and just added another to his portfolio. He travels in a private jets to and from locations and in SUVs to and from airports. He doesn't even use green energy available to him. So, if you tell me, "There's a bomb under my desk!" and you don't move at all, I have to ask, "Do you actually believe there's a bomb under your desk?" If you warn of anthropogenic global warming and take no action yourself to change it, do you actually believe in anthropogenic global warming?

Jesus said, "You will recognize them by their fruits." What does that mean? It means that you can tell what people really believe by what they do. James said essentially the same thing in James 2:14-26. He describes live faith and dead faith, where dead faith (which does no one any good) is claiming to believe but without having any fruit. You see, you will always act on what you truly believe. Saying you believe something doesn't mean you actually believe it.

So, what do you believe? If you say, for instance, "Poor people are blessed" (as some have said to me), the only rational "fruit" would be to strive to be poor. I mean, you want to be blessed, don't you? You want the people you care about to be blessed, don't you? Well, then! If we know that poor people are blessed, why aren't you poor and encouraging everyone else to do the same? Even if you say, "No, that's not what it means", most often those who are clamoring to help the poor aren't actually willing to change their own station in life to do it. Oh, there are certainly some, but most are more willing to take money from someone else that they deem as having more than they need. It isn't in line with what they say they believe.

If you say, "Morality (or truth) is relative", the only rational "fruit" would be to simply ignore the morality (or truth) claims of others. If you believe that morality is relative, then you would have no grounds on which to complain about the moral views of others. If you argue that truth is relative, you would have no grounds to claim that someone else's truth claims are false. If you really believe those things, it ought to show in your actions. Claiming that others are being bad or are wrong is not in line with the belief that morality or truth is relative.

If you say, "Jesus is Lord", the only rational "fruit" would be to submit to Jesus as Lord. His commands would direct your life. Admittedly, no one would be perfect at that, but in no sense could you use the oxymoronic phrase, "No, Lord." You might not be able to obey perfectly, but you could not stand there and defend sexual immorality or murder or so many other things that people who claim to be followers of Christ today indulge and defend. The Lordship of Christ does not align with the lordship of man.

I know. I'm not immune. I bear the same question. If I believe what I say I'm believe, am I acting on it or am I not? If not, do I really believe it? It's a hard question for me to face. I just thought I'd share the trial.