Depart From Me, I Never Knew "Bradford Pears"....

Ah.... Spring time.
It's the season of new growth and life. The air is crisp, clean, and warming with gentle breezes blowing away dead leaves of fall for a carpet of soft new grass shoots to burst forth....


It's also the season intense storms from warm and cold fronts battle for territorial rights, pollen layering everything under a blanket of yellow stain, and sinus headaches and sneezing from..... well, you know.


Don't get me wrong. I love spring. I think that's why God chose Christ's resurrection to crown the newness of earthly growth with the redemption of spiritual ones. But it's the herald of this season which has been on my mind and sinus cavities recently:
The Bradford Pear Tree.


For those of you who have never experienced this beautiful, white blossomed tree, let me tell you a little:
Developers love to line new housing areas and other large buildings with them because they are fast growing and have a full look to them (thick with branches). The problem is that the angles at which those branches grow tend to be weak and if a strong storm comes along, the limbs often break off. Another issue is their root system is very shallow and they love to pop up "suckers", meaning if you have one, you will have more if you don't mow them quickly, or the entire tree will blow over at high winds. They are also ornamentals, meaning that though they are a "pear tree", they never produce fruit. That's a nice thing if you don't want any, but then why is it called a Pear tree? Finally, is the fact that those beautiful, white blossoms smell like dead fish. A beauty to behold, but not to inhale.


So this has been my thought for the last week or more: Why do so many, so-called, Christians behave like Bradford Pears? They hear the "Gospel" and grow quickly, but their roots are shallow and when trials or strong temptations come, they break apart. They look pretty on the outside, but if you get too close they small like death. Also, they produce no fruit. (Galatians 5:22-23)  These people are like the ones Jesus describes in the parable of the sower in Matthew 13. They are the seeds sown on rocky ground and among the thorns:
 ¹⁸ "You, then, listen to the parable of the sower: ¹⁹ When anyone hears the word about the kingdom and doesn't understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is the one sown along the path. ²⁰And the one sown on rocky ground—this is one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. ²¹ Yet he has no root in himself, but is short-lived. When pressure or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he stumbles. ²²Now the one sown among the thorns—this is one who hears the word, but the worries of this age and the seduction of wealth choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. ²³ But the one sown on the good ground—this is one who hears and understands the word, who does bear fruit and yields: some 100, some 60, some 30 times [what was sown]."
Matthew 13:18-23


We all need to take stock of ourselves spiritually:
Do we produce fruit? Through the Spirit.
Can we weather the storms? -Through Christ.
Are our roots deep? -In faith?
Do we smell of the right kind of death?


 ¹⁴ But thanks be to God, who always puts us on display in Christ, and spreads through us in every place the scent of knowing Him. ¹⁵ For to God we are the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing. ¹⁶ To some we are a scent of death leading to death, but to others, a scent of life leading to life. And who is competent for this? ¹⁷ For we are not like the many who make a trade in God's message [for profit], but as those with sincerity, we speak in Christ, as from God and before God.
2 Corinthians 2:14-17


My great passion and concern is that one day, when standing before our Lord, Jesus Christ, these Bradford Pear Christians who have done "many great things" will hear, "I never knew you! Depart from Me..."

 ¹³ "Enter through the narrow gate. 

For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction,and there are many who go through it. ¹⁴ How narrow is the gate and difficult the road that leads to life, and few find it.

    ¹⁵ "Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing 

but inwardly are ravaging wolves. ¹⁶ You'll recognize them by their fruit. 

Are grapes gathered from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 

¹⁷ In the same way, every good tree produces good fruit, but a bad tree produces bad fruit. 

¹⁸ A good tree can't produce bad fruit; neither can a bad tree produce good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that doesn't produce good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

 ²⁰ So you'll recognize them by their fruit.

    ²¹ "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord!' will enter the kingdom of heaven, 

but [only] the one who does the will of My Father in heaven. 

²² On that day many will say to Me, 

'Lord, Lord, didn't we prophesy in Your name, drive out demons in Your name, and do many miracles in Your name? 

²³ Then I will announce to them, 'I never knew you! Depart from Me, you lawbreakers!

   Matthew 7: 13-23