Spiritual Hiccups - Lord, Lord, Where's the Fruit?

In today's reading from Luke, Jesus combines his teaching about good trees bearing good fruit with his pointed question, "Why do you call me 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I tell you?"  Why is it that we often profess our faith in Jesus but that doesn't issue forth in much fruit?  How is it that I can be a pastor but do a lot more talking about what Jesus says to do than actually doing any of it?

There are a lot of reasons we big on belief and short on fruits.  For some folks, faith is a kind of insurance policy.  Believing and church attendance are the premiums with the payout being heaven when they die.  But this sort of thinking seems to motivate less and less people, which in part explains the decline of traditional congregations. 

But lack of fruits is not just a problem for traditional folks.  We are a consumer society, and religion has become a consumer item.  People often seek a spirituality or religion that will "meet their needs."  This sort of religious search sometimes expects Jesus to provide all the fruit.  Faith, spirituality, religion is viewed as a product to enhance one's life.

But for me, I think that most often the problem is one of inertia.  It is like those times when I am certain that I need to get up and go for a run in the morning, but I remain in bed, hitting the snooze button and staying put.  All too often, I know that what Jesus asks of me is exactly what I should and need to do, but I delay, I do something else, I stay put.

It has been many years since I read Bonhoeffer's Cost of Discipleship but I still remember him saying that true faith requires obedience.  In that sense, I suppose faith is like health.  Believing that I need to exercise in order to be healthy won't make any difference in my health.  Only getting up and doing it will impact my health.  It takes acting on belief for faith to be real, for faith to produce the fruits Jesus insists that it must. 

Lord, touch my heart so that I will get off my butt and bear a little fruit.

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