“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.
3 comments:
Good point.
Just a few thoughts...
The John 15 passage prefaces all of the fruit statements with a discussion on The Vine, Christ. It seems to me that would be the place to start when the subject of fruit comes up. Real branches get everything from The Vine. If we are truly branches of The Vine, then the fruit is His, anyway. Maybe our relationship with Christ should be the focus (as opposed to denominational identities or other similar distractions).
One question: How does your statements on personal holiness not lasting compare with I Cor. 3:10-15?
If the fruit is not to the glory of Jesus, it is not fulfilling any part of what we are purposed to do. "Apart from me, you can do nothing (v. 5) is the most important premise in the entire idea of bearing fruit. As to your question- I think this passage illustrates very well the supremecy of building through discipleship. The context is the church itself (v.9) and how the builders will be judged (first accepting that Christ is the only foundation on which the body can be built). Will they build with elements that do not last forever, or with those things which continue on/last?
Exactly.
Hence, the personal holiness question. Is not building with elements that will last a definition of personal holiness?
Maybe coming at it from another angle...
Is personal holiness a prerequisite to building through discipleship in the first place, therefore intrinsically linked to lasting fruit?
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