What have you heard people say about the bad behavior or character of Christians?
What do you think Jesus meant in Matthew 12:33 that “a tree is known by its fruit”?
How we behave as Christians matters. See what Jesus says about this in John 15:8.
Discover: How does our behavior reflect on God?
Discover: What would demonstrate to others that we are followers of Jesus?
Discuss: If someone who identifies themselves as a Christian is not bearing fruit, what may be wrong?
Reflect: Which of the following circles do you think represents someone’s life who says he is a Christian but does not live like Jesus?
[Insert 3 circle diagrams]
Reflect: What makes it difficult to know whether someone is truly a Christian?
Ephesians 4:22-24 reminds us that Christians sometimes behave in the same ways as those who do not know Jesus.
Ephesians 4:22-24
. . . to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Discover: What choice does Paul urge us to make?
Discuss: How will the life of someone who is not putting on (living in or by) the new self differ from that of someone who does not know Christ?
What distinguishes someone who does not know Christ from those who are truly Christians is explained in Romans 8:9.
Romans 8:9
You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
Discover: What is true about a Christian?
Reflect: Will this difference always be observable in a person’s outward life?
So if someone says that he is a Christian, but he is not bearing fruit, either he may not actually have a relationship with Christ or he may be a Christian who is living as the old self.
Since we cannot see into peoples’ hearts as God can, it can be very difficult to know how to approach someone or what to say. Should we assume that they are an unbeliever, or should we view them as a believer who is not walking in the Spirit? What should we do in these situations?
TRY TO FIND OUT WHERE SOMEONE IS SPIRITUALLY
Imagine the following scenario:
You have a colleague who identifies herself as a Christian (is a church member, wears a cross, or has it on her identity papers). She always greets you on Christian holidays and talks about her religious activities, but she loudly and repeatedly complains about things at work and says horrible things about your other colleagues.
How could you guide a conversation to clarify where this person is spiritually?
• Talk in the context of a relationship.
What could you do or say so she knows that you care about her?
• Ask about his relationship with God.
o Here is what you could ask:
▪ How did your faith become important to you?
▪ How does your faith in God make a difference in your life?
What other questions could you ask?
o What are you listening for?
▪ The person talks in terms of a personal relationship with God.
▪ The person acknowledges personal salvation by faith in Jesus.
What answers do you think the colleague in the scenario might give?
GUIDE SOMEONE TO PERSONAL FAITH
If it seems that they do not have a personal relationship with God, what could you say?
• You can share your testimony.
What would be important for you to emphasize?
• Ask about their response to God’s desire for relationship.
o Here is what you could ask:
▪ Have you ever accepted God’s gift of salvation?
▪ Would you like to know more about how you could have a personal relationship with God?
How could you respond to the different answers they might give you?
Do you have any questions or concerns about any of these points?
CARE FOR THE SPIRITUAL HEALTH OF OTHER BELIEVERS
If it seems that they do have a personal relationship with God, what help do they need in their Christian life?
The circles in the first section represent the three types of people described in 1 Corinthians 2 and 3. There Paul talks about the natural person (unbeliever) and the spiritual person (believer). 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 explains the type of person in the third circle.
1 Corinthians 3:1-3
But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way?
Discover: How do we know these people are believers?
Discover: How does Paul describe them?
Reflect: How would you describe these people in terms of the new self and the old self?
Discuss: How does Paul adjust how he relates to them? Why?
Reflect: What do you think is Paul’s goal in talking to them about this?
Paul obviously cares for them. He sees that the way they are living is hindering their spiritual growth. Many believers do not understand that the Holy Spirit lives in them and will walk with them through life. They may be frustrated that they are not living like Jesus, but do not know what to do about it.
What type of Christian life do you think Jesus desires for all of us to experience?
How could you help believers who may be in this condition?
• Share what you have learned about the Holy Spirit and how to let Him fill your life.
What would you share?
• Share about spiritual breathing and how to walk in the Spirit.
What examples could you give of how you are doing this?
HAVE A CORRECT ATTITUDE WHEN TALKING TO OTHERS
Share: Has someone ever talked to you about something that would help you in your spiritual life? What made it a positive or negative experience?
Look again at the three circles.
Which circle do we need to be in for God to use us to help others?
How can you be sure that is true of you?
Remember, in John 15 Jesus uses the illustration of Himself as a vine and His followers as branches to express how important it is for us to remain in Him.
Discuss: How does John 15:4-5 apply to having a spiritual conversation with someone? What is needed in order for it to be a fruitful conversation?
John 15:4-5
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.
Reflect: How does knowing that it is Jesus who will bring forth fruit help you to relax when you talk to someone about his or her spiritual life?
People’s behavior and attitudes can give us clues about the state of their hearts and lives, but it is not our place to judge someone else. Jesus warned about this in Matthew 7:3-5.
Matthew 7:3-5
Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
Discover: In this passage, what do the specks and logs represent?
Reflect: Does this mean that our own lives need to be perfect before we can talk to someone about his spiritual condition?
Discuss: How can we avoid seeming hypocritical or judgmental when we have a conversation with someone about her spiritual life?
Sharing examples from your own life about walking in the Spirit will help others see your sincerity and communicate that you are not judging them. In 1 Peter 3:15 we are told to “always be prepared” when we are asked about our faith and to speak “with gentleness and respect.”
GOING FORWARD
Clarify: What thoughts or questions do you have?
Summarize: What truths about the Holy Spirit would help someone who says she is a Christian but whose life does not reflect Jesus?
Apply: Let’s pray this week that God will give us opportunities to share this with someone.
Pass It On: Do you feel “prepared” to share these truths? If not, what would help you?
Think back over these conversations about God’s Spirit. How has your understanding of the Holy Spirit grown? What difference is that making in how you live?
Let’s take time to thank God for giving us His Holy Spirit.
Reinforce:
When you read these passages, consider how God might want to use you among the people where you work.
• 1 Corinthians 2:6-3:9
• Ephesians 4:17-24
• Galatians 6:1-10
• Mark 2:13-17
• 2 Corinthians 13:5-11
• Luke 6:37-45
1 Corinthians 2:6-3:9
Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But, as it is written,
“What no eye has seen, nor ear heard,
nor the heart of man imagined,
what God has prepared for those who love him”—
these things God has revealed to us through the Spirit. For the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except the spirit of that person, which is in him? So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might understand the things freely given us by God. And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.
The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one. “For who has understood the mind of the Lord so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people, but as people of the flesh, as infants in Christ. I fed you with milk, not solid food, for you were not ready for it. And even now you are not yet ready, for you are still of the flesh. For while there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not of the flesh and behaving only in a human way? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?
What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.
Ephesians 4:17-24
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. But that is not the way you learned Christ!— assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
Galatians 6:1-10
Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load.
Let the one who is taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
Mark 2:13-17
He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.
And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.”
2 Corinthians 13:5-11
Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test! I hope you will find out that we have not failed the test. But we pray to God that you may not do wrong—not that we may appear to have met the test, but that you may do what is right, though we may seem to have failed. For we cannot do anything against the truth, but only for the truth. For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for. For this reason I write these things while I am away from you, that when I come I may not have to be severe in my use of the authority that the Lord has given me for building up and not for tearing down.
Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.
Luke 6:37-45
“Judge not, and you will not be judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
He also told them a parable: “Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher. Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Brother, let me take out the speck that is in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log that is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take out the speck that is in your brother’s eye.
“For no good tree bears bad fruit, nor again does a bad tree bear good fruit, for each tree is known by its own fruit. For figs are not gathered from thornbushes, nor are grapes picked from a bramble bush. The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”
