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In God We Don't Trust  /  Chapter 23: What Was Lacking Spiritually  /  Discussion Questions
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Question 3
Bercot links trusting God “completely” with being “truly regenerated,” then contrasts the revolutionaries with the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23); what does this imply about how we should evaluate a movement that calls itself Christian but is characterized by anger, threats, and agitation?
Another way to ask: If a movement calls itself Christian but is full of anger, threats, and agitation, what does Galatians 5:22–23 suggest about how we should judge it?

Direct Answer Bercot implies we should evaluate such a movement by spiritual fruit and conformity to Christ, not by its Christian language; anger, threats, and agitation point away from Spirit-produced life and toward an unregenerated posture.

Support from Transcript:

  • He says full trust required the colonists to be “truly regenerated men and women,” the kind “the Spirit produces.”
  • He lists the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness… gentleness, self-control,” then asks, “Does that sound anything like Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty?”
  • He says the revolutionaries “reviled and threatened those they viewed as oppressors” and “refused to honor the King.”
  • He quotes Ephesians 4:31-32 and then states these vices “characterized so many of the revolutionaries… bitterness, anger, and wrath… spoke evil.”
  • He notes nearly all colonists “professed to be Christians,” yet their conduct contradicted apostolic instruction.
Discussion Follow-ups What kinds of “fruit” do we excuse because we agree with the cause? How should “peace” and “self-control” shape Christian activism?

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