The sermon for 22 February 2015 by Rev. Graham Crawford. “Modelling Godly Character” is the theme for week 3 in the series “Fruitfulness on the Frontline”.
The Darwin awards and the Fruits of the Spirit
I wonder how many of you are familiar with the Darwin awards.
There is no actual award but it is a compilation of stupid things that people do – things that, in some cases, are life threatening.
The inference of the award is that these people are so stupid, they will eventually die out, while others survive.
It is a form of natural selection, evolution and the survival, not necessarily of the fittest, but the brightest, hence the name Darwin awards after the author of “On The origin of Species.”
They are sometimes shown on TV and you can find them on the internet. For the most part, while they might cause you to cringe or go “ouch”, they are pretty funny.
In a world where we believe that the strongest, the fastest and the brightest survive, the fruits of the Spirit, listed in Galatians 5, are somewhat of an anomaly.
Love, patience, humility and self-control, to name but a few, are never valued in a worldview where only the strongest survive and it’s everyone for themselves.
As a result, many people dismiss the fruits of the Spirit. Many disparage them and use their disparagement to confine them to Sundays only, or for those who don’t really work in the “real world” – you know: folk like ministers! [Read more…]
