"Producing Fruit God Wants"
Lk.13:1-9 (Jn.15:1-8,16f) Oct.17/04
Looking for Fulfillment -- or Fruit?
Our society is very driven by consumerism, the quest for more materially rewarding jobs so we can afford the latest toys and trinkets. Egged on by envy of our neighbour's most recent acquisition, we rush around in search of "the good life". Yet true fulfillment eludes us.
This yearning for material satisfaction can even invade a pastors' retreat. This past Wednesday Yvonne and I attended the district ministerial retreat up at Stayner, along with dozens of other EMC pastors and spouses. It was an extremely uplifting day of singing and presentations. But even there, consumerism poked its nose in now and again. For example, I couldn't help but notice that the church planter in the pew ahead of me was using a palm pilot at one point. At a break, I couldn't resist sidling over beside the projectionist who was demonstrating to onlookers a $500 software program that allows you to show videos as background during the songs - real-life clips of waves surging back and forth, leaves of a tree rustling in the wind - very effective. Then at the supper table, the assistant district superintendent passing by remarked on the vehicle recently purchased by the pastor seated to my right: a 2004 diesel Jetta that the pastor said he'd already put 11,000 km on, to which the assistant D.S.quipped, "and only had to fill the tank once!"
But is life merely about owning the latest and greatest do-dads? Will it make a difference in eternity whether I possessed a palm pilot or just used pencil and paper? We're always comparing, to what end? Newly marrieds notice another couple has already upgraded their home. A retired person wistfully overhears another pensioner describing their latest exotic trip. We're insatiably seeking the next "high", yet somehow when we have it in hand, it fails to truly satisfy. What are we really looking for? How can we find fulfillment?
Jesus' parable of the unfruitful fig tree suggests satisfaction may not come from what we're looking for, so much as what God's looking for in us. The Lord's not impressed by our gadgets or trophies; what He's looking for is fruit. Lk.13:6-7 says, "A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any.So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’" God the Creator owns all there is. He's looking for fruit in our lives; else we're just "using up the soil", a "waste of good air" as it were.
John 15 is another teaching of Jesus that stresses the importance of fruitfulness. He likens Himself to a grapevine, us as the branches, and His Father as the vinedresser. Vv8&16 say, "This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples...You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit— fruit that will last." The words "bear fruit" are mentioned 7 times within the space of a few verses: obviously this is something very important to the Lord. What could He be meaning by 'fruit'?
Fruit as Repentance, Resemblance, Reproduction
One aspect of bearing fruit seems to be linked to REPENTANCE. Jesus introduces the parable in the context of bad news about a recent tragedy. Pilot the governor had killed some Galileans while they were presenting their offering at the temple. Whether this was a reprisal for terrorist activity in the north against the Romans, or these people themselves were rebels, we don't know. But Jesus seizes the opportunity to highlight the importance of repentance, examining our heart and confessing our sin to God. He says in vv2-6, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them— do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."
The immediate tragedy - whether the murder of the Galileans or the construction accident involving the tower that killed 18 - the immediate tragedy is used by the Lord as a springboard to illustrate the tragedy of our overall human existence apart from God. We're all sinners, all guilty - none righteous, not even one. Our eternal fate is based on our response to God's warning: if we repent, He gives us eternal life in Jesus; if we resist and don't repent, we will perish, enduring eternal punishment. Jesus was using the shock of the current news to waken people to the peril of their unrepentant state.
So repentance is one aspect of the fruit God seeks in our life. Unless we admit our need and confess our sin, inescapable judgment and condemnation await us. Jesus' initial message in Mark's gospel summed up His major emphasis: "The Kingdom of God is near.Repent and believe the good news!" (Mk.1:15) Unless we repent, acknowledging our need of God's mercy, we won't get to first base in the Christian life or in eternity. Those who say, "I can make it on my own," will perish. For only God can show us how sinful we secretly are - and provide a solution.
Another aspect of "fruit" that God seeks is RESEMBLANCE. In the John 15 passage on "fruit" Jesus says, "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you.Now remain in my love...My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you...This is my command: Love each other." (Jn 15:9,12,17) Repetition for emphasis -- do we get the point? This isn't just general love for all people, but especially love for our fellow believers as sisters and brothers of our one Heavenly Father. Sacrificial love that lays down its life for one's friend. Jesus said earlier (Jn.13:35), "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." Love would be the unmistakable sign that we're really His: loving the way He loved us. Love that resembles the love of Calvary.
Another characteristic mentioned in Jn.15 is joy. V11 says, "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete." Jesus prays in Jn.17(13) that His disciples "may have the full measure of my joy within them". Joy is something that's bound to show up inevitably in a distinctive way if you're a believer working in a secular environment. That doesn't mean you're bubbly all the time, or even obviously cheerful. But your response when things go wrong will show an inner reservoir, a deep peace and contentment found in God that no circumstance can touch; a joy that flavours and moderates even tragic times.
Our speaker at the District Pastors' Retreat was HB London, "Pastor to Pastors" with Focus on the Family of Colorado Springs. He himself was a pastor for about 30 years. One thing he warned us about was what he called "joy-suckers" - people you meet in ministry who are critical about inconsequential things. "Pastor, on the way into church I couldn't help notice there were a few sprouts of grass growing up between the sidewalk; I want to know what you're going to do about it." He explained it's like they have a big vacuum cleaner with a hose: they can walk up to you, hook up and within 10 seconds they've drained you of your joy. But I got thinking about our own congregation and I couldn't think of one 'joy-sucker' in it! You people are marvelous! Genuine faith and attachment to Jesus gives inner joy, an abundance to share. I'm sure that's what attracted hurting people to our Lord: they sensed this unstoppable spring surging up within Him.
Love...joy...sounds like we've got a list going here! These qualities from John 15 are the very ones that Paul begins his list of "fruit of the Spirit" with in Gal.5(22f): love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, self-control. These are Christ-like qualities; the fruit of the Spirit's character within us makes us resemble Jesus more and more. Some of you have been watching Henry Blackaby in the Experiencing God series. He seems a very godly man, speaking with both gentleness and authority; he exudes an aura of holiness, presenting Scripture as if it's his native language. Once HB London interviewed Henry Blackaby; HB recalled, "He looked like God, He sounded like God -- when we began the interview I couldn't help asking, 'Are you God?' Then we stopped the tape and started over again." The resemblance was so striking HB couldn't resist popping the question.
So, fruit is repentance; fruit is resemblance; and, fruit is reproduction. The Great Commission comes through in all the gospels, the idea that Jesus' followers are to get out there and reproduce by sharing the Good News. Mt.28(19), "Go therefore and make disciples", baptizing and teaching. Mk.16(15f) - they're to preach to all creation so others believe, are baptized, and saved. Lk.24(47) - they're to preach repentance and forgiveness of sins in His name to all nations. Jn.20(19,21) - the book was written so people would be blessed by believing, and have life in Jesus' name. This propagation is expected.
What is the fruit of a tomato plant? (not tomatoes) Before you answer, let's come at it a different way. What's the fruit of a person? How do you know they have reproduced? When there's a baby person. There's a multiplication, an offspring. Back up now: what's the fruit of a tomato plant? Another tomato plant - a replacement, another generation that itself is ready to reproduce. What's the fruit of a disciple? Another disciple. By extension - what's the fruit of a church? Another church. Now we're catching a God-size vision!
The vision statement of the Evangelical Missionary Church is: "Seeking God passionately for dramatically increasing numbers of relevant churches, led by Christ-inspired leaders." The Mission Statement says the EMC is "passionately committed to introducing people to Jesus Christ, discipling believers and facilitating the multiplication of healthy churches in Canada and worldwide." President Phil Delsaut's vision is "a cell in every village, a congregation in every town, a celebration in every city." Do you sense the reproductive drive built-in to this? Healthy growing things like tomatoes and fig trees reproduce and multiply. Reproducing is synonymous with bearing fruit; and what does the heavenly gardener do to branches that bear no fruit? He cuts them off (Jn.15:2). Repentance, Resemblance, and Reproduction identify fruitful believers and congregations.
Structure to Promote our Purpose
(photo of tomato vines on ground) We've enjoyed a few quarts / litres of cherry tomatoes off our plants this season. But I was talking to another fellow who says he's picked bushels off his! What's the difference? One thing is that he has a cage to support the vines, keeping them up off the ground and in the sunshine. The structure of the cage promotes the purpose of bearing fruit.
How's this apply to our personal lives? How can we re-structure our patterns to be more fruitful? We can start with by repenting, digging up around the fig tree, allowing God to disturb our conscience and expose the garbage we've buried and need to confess to Him. Maybe we need to apologize to another person or make restitution for what we've stolen. Pray for the Lord to show you any sinful blind spots or unconscious attitudes.
Next, apply fertilizer around the root: get into the Word. In Jn.15(3,7) Jesus says the word He has spoken cleanses us; connection comes when we remain in Him and His words remain in us. Earlier (Jn.8:31) He said if we abide in His words, we're truly His disciples; and we shall know the truth, and the truth shall set us free. If you want your life to have Kingdom impact, there's no substitute for a regular intake of Scripture on a daily basis.
Third, prune away distractions from your priorities. "Abiding in Christ" takes time. The Father prunes the branches that bear fruit so they will be even more fruitful. What are you doing that needs to be dropped? What in your schedule can you sacrifice in order to grow more fruit in your life or the life of a friend? Sure, the tomato vine would rather ramble all over the place on the ground unfettered, but the cage limits and supports it in the right direction so it will maximize its fruit, not wasteful vegetative growth.
These growth principles also apply to churches. Natural Church Development calls this area "functional structures": not the most exciting title, but researcher Christian Schwarz observes that this quality characteristic has turned out to be the most controversial of the eight. He says, "The most important criterion for forms and structures in the church is if they fulfill their purpose or not. Church structures are never an end in themselves but always only a means to an end. Whatever does not measure up to this requirement...is changed or laid to rest." He gives examples: demeaning leadership structures, inconvenient worship service times, or programs that do not reach their audience effectively.
At the pastors' retreat we found ourselves sitting behind Simon Yung, who is planting a Chinese church in Brampton at the same building that hosts Crossroads EMC. He was saying Crossroads has started to embrace the Chinese congregation as their local mission project. The Chinese church had had to meet Sunday afternoon, which was not as good a time as Sunday morning. Crossroads actually decided to change their service time from 10:30 to 11 am so the Chinese congregation could meet in the morning too. That may not sound like a huge sacrifice, but it's a big change for a church!
Another key step in becoming fruitful as a congregation is developing and promoting a mission statement. Do you know what ours is? (top of bulletin) Churches that already have one may need to fine-tune it. Ask questions such as, "What makes us distinct?" "What three adjectives best describe the character of our church?" "What kind of persons feel especially at home in our church?" We need to stay very conscious of our mission statement. Schwarz says, "Every church member should know why your church exists."
Having fruit-oriented, "functional structures" means we will avoid traditionalism like the plague. Studying over 1000 churches in 32 countries, analyzing over 4 million responses, researchers found traditionalism to be a factor that shows one of the highest significant negative correlations with church growth and church quality. In non-statistical talk, that means traditionalism kills growth -- kind of like watering your tomatoes with battery acid. Here's where the controversy begins. For who's the highest temperament type attending church? Good old institution-supporting SJs who hate change. These folks are drawn to church because it's an island of safety, security, and stability in the sea of chaos that is modern society. They've come here for refuge to find the transcendentals that don't change, and now we start talking about altering all those dear traditions! But they mistake the form for the essence. Not too many decades ago, even organs were an unwelcome innovation. Our Kingdom purposes remain constant; but our programs change to present the Good News in a way that's relevant to each generation.
Another essential in a healthy church is to evaluate all structures to see how well they promote or hinder continuous multiplication. For example, growing churches will commission department leaders who are responsible for areas of ministry in the church and who are training apprentice leaders. Don't just look after that particular role yourself! Enlist someone to help alongside, who can take over from you down the road, or be "spun-off" to do that in the new church plant. Sometimes it may seem easier to "just do it yourself", but for the Kingdom to spread, it must multiply: and that takes new, trained leaders.
Growth Means Change
Walking to lunch at the retreat, we listened to a Chinese pastor who serves a non-Chinese congregation in the heart of Toronto. It had been declining for some years, coming to hold steady at about 30 members. But just this past year there were 8 new members baptized. That's exciting! New fruit!
Our pastor friend described how one of the 8 had been strictly communist in her worldview. Then she found employment with a member of the congregation who had a printing business. This boss held devotions with his workers at the start of each day. Seeds were planted. Eventually the boss asked her to help with the preparation of the church bulletins, which he also was responsible for producing. More seeds were planted. Eventually she believed in Christ and was baptized. The branches bore fruit; and a lot of it had to do with just a boss's decision to offer devotions each day to his employees.
However, as we said, the congregation had been stagnant at 30 members for a long time. Our pastor friend admitted to Yvonne and me that now there are 8 new members, and it really makes things different. He doesn't know what to do with them: for example, at refreshment times they tend to cluster together, and he tries to tell them to break apart and go mix with the rest! Happy growing pains as a church adjusts to new life in its midst.
"A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it..." When the Lord comes to inspect your life -- your church -- what fruit will He find? Start the digging today, disturbing your soil to let Him bring the true fulfillment that comes with producing Kingdom fruit. Let's pray.