“You know a tree by its fruit (Luke 6:44),” seems like a simple enough statement. Apple trees produce Apples, and Orange trees produce Oranges- it’s a fundamental law of science; things capable of reproduction only do so after their own kind. It doesn’t take much to see this in the life of the church as well, the question being, what kind of fruit does it bear?
Attempts have been made to categorize church fruits, whether they be Baptists or Methodists, these seem to me less denominational identities and more fruit descriptions. But what kind of fruit are we suggested, I mean, COMMANDED (John 15) to bear?
I think many of our churches have settled for second best. We have chosen the fruits of Galatians 5:22-23, the fruits of personal holiness, which are in no way bad or nondesireable, simply incomplete. It seems to me that the church has taken the fruits of the Spirit and emphasized them to the degree of ultimate pursuit, as if this fruit is the fruit Jesus commands us to bear. I do not believe it is and here is why: this fruit does not last. “I have appointed you to bear fruit, fruit that will last (John 15),” is the command my Savior proclaims, and in all honesty, the fruit of personal holiness will die at the death of the person- therefore it does not last. The effects of it will remain, I’m sure in some cases, but these are not the fruits themselves, merely the consequences.
However, if these fruits of walking in the Holy Spirit are taken and intentionally passed on to others, this form of reproduction is definitely lasting. Multi-generational reproduction with the intention of further reproduction is exactly that- lasting. It seems to me that we have gotten half-way; we have attempted to grasp the fruit, but have mistaken the seed for the fruit itself, which is disciples who make disciples by the power of the Holy Spirit. If we were to go the next level and intentionally pour the gifts that God has given us into those pursuing the Lord Himself, how much more lasting a fruit would we be bearing? I think this is where we missed it (or ignored it, either way). We have ignored the most important aspect of fruit, reproduction. Yes, nourishment is wonderful. Yes, visual appreciation is beautiful, but honestly, if it doesn’t reproduce what good is it but to one generation? Because the church has decided to emphasize first generation Spiritual fruit each generation succeeding it has been forced to relearn the path themselves- being told, “It’s your faith, find it for yourself,” or “You’re gonna have to discover what it means for you to follow Christ.”
They have been left at least one step behind because the fruit was not reproduced in them when they should be heading towards new steps the previous generation did not venture into. I believe this is what it means to bear lasting fruit, that the disciples we pour into by the Holy Spirit’s power possess the passion to also make disciples with the same passion. It seems endless, and that’s the point. Fruit was not intended to end with one generation- if so our faith would have died with the original twelve. The fruit is not intended to be simply holiness, for we have none of our own. Moreover, it is HIS holiness passed on to us by His Holy Spirit that is intended to be passed on to others by, once again, HIS Holy Spirit.
The trick now becomes, how can we pass on what we do not have? WE CAN’T. We’re back to that fundamental law again- we cannot produce spiritual fruit unless we ourselves are alive spiritually. It follows along these lines that we cannot make disciples by the Holy Spirit’s power (lasting fruit) unless we are being discipled by the Holy Spirit’s power.
The fruit of the Spirit are worth pursuing, but they are not things simply stumbled upon. They are grasped through discipline and submission- both elements of discipleship. In this it seems to me that the person intentionally seeking to reproduce the lasting fruit will naturally produce the Spiritual fruit because they are striving to walk in the Spirit daily, but the one pursuing the individual fruits will produce only that and thus fall short of lasting fruit and fulfilling the mandate of our Lord.
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Saturday, February 2, 2008
It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
“The prophet/preacher, the administrator, the priest, the teacher, and the counselor… these are the differing roles of ministry one will most likely function in.” says the Professor.
Student: “Are these the differing roles one can be “called” into, or the roles that one person who is “called to ministry” will have to fill?”
Professor: “One person- the pastor of the local church.”
Different student: “It seems like that will force the pastor to step way outside of his giftings… I mean, if he is forced to do the things he isn’t gifted to do, doesn’t that provide a greater risk of burnout?”
Professor: “Yes, it does, and yes, many do have to work outside of their giftings. That is why the call to ministry is something so weighty, you have to be cut out for the job if you expect to make it, cause a lot of times you do have to do things you aren’t gifted to do.”
…
Need I say more? Yes, this actually happened. Yes, I was there. How can we project this as a good thing? Are you as horrified as I am? How can we expect this to keep on working when so many pastors are already leaving their churches presently? In all honesty, more so than any psychology class that I hardly understood and more so than any mathematics class that bored me to tears, that ministry class discouraged me. How can we healthy churches if we do not have healthy theology? The Pastor is not the center of the church- Jesus is. Not only that, but the pastor was never meant to be the answer man to every crisis and situation, he is supposed to provide direction. I am speaking of pastors in the sense of leaders, not in the sense of their giftings, for in that sense, it seems as if the pastoral gift is not even the leader of the church. Aside from semantics, what of the giftings?
If we expect one man to continuously pour out of himself to the number of his congregation, many of whom have not even committed loyalty to the vision the pastor is leading towards, we will continue to see a decline in ministry students, and those who do enter it will be either full of themselves as being “cut-out” or ignorant of the demands. The church must begin to realize that mere pew-sitters do not bear fruit, and the responsibility for that is in their own recognition of purpose. Why should they believe they ought to bear fruit when they are constantly reminded that the pastor can take care of things?
I have no doubt that many people sitting in our churches do indeed believe in spiritual gifts… but the question is, are they given opportunity to use them? When the pastor believes it to be his responsibility to fill in the gaps of all areas, how can he disciple those whose giftings more naturally and purposefully fill those gaps? When does he have time to disciple at all? Christ is the giver of all gifts… in order that in all things He is the first and last, the author and perfector. The church is not intended to rest on the strength, charisma, personality, or resolve and determination of one man unless that one man is Jesus Christ- the Prophet, Priest, and King. It is purposed to be filled with the Holy Spirit to be a Christ-centered, Christ-dependent living body that does ache sometimes, but by His incredible grace has been given the gift of healers to comfort, and yes it does run with passion sometimes and has been given the gift of visionaries to see where it should go, and therein it has been given teachers to pass on that vision and prophets to proclaim accountability to that vision- the vision being bearing fruit to the glory of the Son of God.
It seems as if it is time to lift the burden of the pastors and let the other gifts give themselves the way they were intended to, for spiritual gifts are in no way gifts to they that possess them indeed they are gifts to those being served- to the glory of Jesus Christ, the eternal living Savior.
Student: “Are these the differing roles one can be “called” into, or the roles that one person who is “called to ministry” will have to fill?”
Professor: “One person- the pastor of the local church.”
Different student: “It seems like that will force the pastor to step way outside of his giftings… I mean, if he is forced to do the things he isn’t gifted to do, doesn’t that provide a greater risk of burnout?”
Professor: “Yes, it does, and yes, many do have to work outside of their giftings. That is why the call to ministry is something so weighty, you have to be cut out for the job if you expect to make it, cause a lot of times you do have to do things you aren’t gifted to do.”
…
Need I say more? Yes, this actually happened. Yes, I was there. How can we project this as a good thing? Are you as horrified as I am? How can we expect this to keep on working when so many pastors are already leaving their churches presently? In all honesty, more so than any psychology class that I hardly understood and more so than any mathematics class that bored me to tears, that ministry class discouraged me. How can we healthy churches if we do not have healthy theology? The Pastor is not the center of the church- Jesus is. Not only that, but the pastor was never meant to be the answer man to every crisis and situation, he is supposed to provide direction. I am speaking of pastors in the sense of leaders, not in the sense of their giftings, for in that sense, it seems as if the pastoral gift is not even the leader of the church. Aside from semantics, what of the giftings?
4There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; 5one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 6one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. 7But to each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. 8Therefore it says,
"WHEN HE ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN."
9(Now this expression, "He ascended," what does it mean except that He also had descended into (the lower parts of the earth? 10He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.) 11And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, 12 for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ; 13until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. 14As a result, we are no longer to be children, tossed here and there by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 15but speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head, even Christ, 16from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
Ephesians 4:4-15 (NASB)
If we expect one man to continuously pour out of himself to the number of his congregation, many of whom have not even committed loyalty to the vision the pastor is leading towards, we will continue to see a decline in ministry students, and those who do enter it will be either full of themselves as being “cut-out” or ignorant of the demands. The church must begin to realize that mere pew-sitters do not bear fruit, and the responsibility for that is in their own recognition of purpose. Why should they believe they ought to bear fruit when they are constantly reminded that the pastor can take care of things?
I have no doubt that many people sitting in our churches do indeed believe in spiritual gifts… but the question is, are they given opportunity to use them? When the pastor believes it to be his responsibility to fill in the gaps of all areas, how can he disciple those whose giftings more naturally and purposefully fill those gaps? When does he have time to disciple at all? Christ is the giver of all gifts… in order that in all things He is the first and last, the author and perfector. The church is not intended to rest on the strength, charisma, personality, or resolve and determination of one man unless that one man is Jesus Christ- the Prophet, Priest, and King. It is purposed to be filled with the Holy Spirit to be a Christ-centered, Christ-dependent living body that does ache sometimes, but by His incredible grace has been given the gift of healers to comfort, and yes it does run with passion sometimes and has been given the gift of visionaries to see where it should go, and therein it has been given teachers to pass on that vision and prophets to proclaim accountability to that vision- the vision being bearing fruit to the glory of the Son of God.
It seems as if it is time to lift the burden of the pastors and let the other gifts give themselves the way they were intended to, for spiritual gifts are in no way gifts to they that possess them indeed they are gifts to those being served- to the glory of Jesus Christ, the eternal living Savior.
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