The TMP Podcast
It's More Than Just Words | Joel Jolly | Sermon on the Mount pt. 2
In our day, we sometimes conflate appearance and reality. If someone tweets the right things, or has the right appearance on Instagram— we might assume a reality that is true of that person. But curiously Jesus says, ““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 who is in heaven.” Jesus is saying that faithfulness is about more than words or mere appearances. Instead we will recognized falseness by the fruit it produces. True followers must not be like those who give lip service to God (saying “Lord, Lord”). Even doing great deeds of power guarantees nothing. What matters is hearing and acting upon the message Jesus proclaims (“these words of mine”); anything less is foolish—building a house on shifting sand. In an age of disinformation, we need to understand that Jesus warned of false prophets, but also gave us some tools to discern the truth.
In our day, we sometimes conflate appearance and reality. If someone tweets the right things, or has the right appearance on Instagram— we might assume a reality that is true of that person. But curiously Jesus says, ““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 who is in heaven.” Jesus is saying that faithfulness is about more than words or mere appearances. Instead we will recognized falseness by the fruit it produces. True followers must not be like those who give lip service to God (saying “Lord, Lord”). Even doing great deeds of power guarantees nothing. What matters is hearing and acting upon the message Jesus proclaims (“these words of mine”); anything less is foolish—building a house on shifting sand. In an age of disinformation, we need to understand that Jesus warned of false prophets, but also gave us some tools to discern the truth.