©2004 David
Drury
Back to David's Writer’s Attic
THE FRUITFUL LIFE
What Will
I Be Remembered For?
David Drury
MANUSCRIPT IN PROCESS OF EDITING BY JEAN
SYSWERDA
Contents
Introduction (You’re
Invited)
The Fruit of the Vine
DAY01
Getting Connected to
Christ
DAY02
Spiritual Formation for
Ordinary People
DAY03
What Does it Mean to
Abide?
DAY04
Rechargeable Batteries
or Extension Cords?
DAY05
Spiritual Pruning
DAY06
The Proof of Fruit
DAY07
The Ultimate Fruit: Love
The Fruit of the Spirit
DAY08
Love in a World of Hate
DAY09
Joy in a World Chasing
Happiness
DAY10
Peace in a World of
Conflict
DAY11
Patience in a World of
Hurry
DAY12
Kindness & Goodness
in a World of Evil
DAY13
Faithfulness in a World
of Broken Promises
DAY14
Gentleness &
Self-Control in a World of Rage
The Fruit of Experience
DAY15
Being Developed
DAY16
Responding to Crisis
DAY17
Getting a Reality
Experience
DAY18
Developing Brokenness
DAY19
Development Character
DAY20
Developing Authenticity
DAY21
Experienced Investing
The Fruit of Values
DAY22
What Does It Mean To Be
Prayer Immersed?
DAY23
What Does It Mean To Be
Biblically Grounded?
DAY24
What Does It Mean To Be
God Led?
DAY25
What Does It Mean To
Share Life As a Team in Community?
DAY26
What Does It Mean To Be
Encouraging and Joy-Filled?
DAY27
What Does It Mean To
Have High Belief and Trust?
DAY28
What Does It Mean To Be
Love Consumed?
The Fruit of the
Disciplines
DAY29
Prayer
DAY30
Fasting
DAY31
Confession
DAY32
Meditation
DAY33
Secret Service
DAY34
Coaching
DAY35
Relationships
The Fruit of
Multiplication
DAY36
Adding Fruit and
Multiplying It
DAY37
Multiplying Disciples in
Your Family10
DAY38
Multiplying Mentors10
DAY39
Multiplying Community10
DAY40
Multiplying Churches10
Now What? (The Master’s Plan for Multiplying Fruit)
Descriptions of the book (rough notes for back cover and promo copy)
The Fruitful Life
What Will I Be Remembered For?
Basic concept: We’re all
wondering what we’ll be remembered for when we’re gone, and the thing that
counts the most is Eternal Evangelistic Fruit… and Evangelistic Fruit is
Expected for Christians… not optional.
There are things that cultivate a more connected and fruitful life for
the Kingdom - and they are focused on in the book.
We will move into a “Discipleship causes Evangelism” type of paradigm
for our church - or perhaps even farther than that - meaning that evangelism
and discipleship aren’t two separate things in the first place (see the Great
Commission for evidence). Many of the chapters
focus on the things seen traditionally as “discipleship” categories (spiritual
disciplines, fruit of the spirit, biblical community values) but are actually
THE MOST important things when it comes to effective evangelism… i.e.
“fruit.” So we’re teaching on living
“The Fruitful Life.”
Begin your anticipation now as we prepare for our own custom-made 40
Days journey this year. 40 Days 2005
looks to be an exciting part of our touchstone tradition with: The Fruitful
Life. Our entire church will be
considering what it takes to lead a life God considers fruitful. We’ll ask the question: “What Will I Be
Remembered For?” We’ll discover that
discipleship and evangelism are not as far apart as we once thought. And we’ll seek to reach the lost like never
before as a fellowship.
Dedication
This book is
dedicated to the next person you lead into a life-changing relationship with
Christ and his Church. That person is
your first fruit in life—and the end goal these chapters have in mind. May that
person see you so connected to the vine that they cannot help but attach
themselves to Him as well. May you both
grow and show fruit together as you follow Christ. And may that person be counted when it counts as your fruit.
Introduction:
Ì
You're Invited!
There's nothing quite like hearing those words...
A 6-year old on a boringly muggy day gets a mailed invitation to his
best friend's birthday party at the end of June. The licensed characters on the card say, "You're
Invited" in crayon style first-grader letters. The kid wakes up every day for weeks asking
if the party is that day.
Swimming pool! Presents! Cake!
Ice cream! And he's invited.
A teenager wondering about her popularity at school gets a creative
personalized e-mail from the super-popular homecoming queen she barely
knows. "You're Invited!" It's an after game get together on Friday
night that everyone cool will be at. She
starts shopping for a new outfit that very afternoon with her mother.
A college girl 6 months into dating the guy of her dreams gets a phone
call from his mother. The mom talks
about how serious the two seem to be getting, then mentions the big extended
family Christmas get together they have every year – "You're
Invited!" Her mind races as she
tries not to think too much about what the ring will look like on her hand.
Allison and Trevor decide to go to church for the first time. They don't know anyone. They're nervous about their three kids
causing trouble in the service. They
nearly leave for embarrassment when one of them makes a funny noise during the
prayer. But after the service the couple
sitting behind them says Hi and strikes up a conversation. When Allison
tells them they are new the nice couple brings up that they love having people
over after church each week. "You're
invited today!" That very hour
they connect with the VanStalk family over a meal…
they’ve been a part of that church for 11 years.
Red and Joan are empty nesters.
Ned only sees his neighbors when he mows his lawn. And Joan only sees them when she gets the
mail. One day a new couple moves into
their cul-de-sac. After getting settled
the new couple, Phil & Jennifer, come over to introduce themselves. Before long Phil & Jennifer call them up
saying, “You’re invited over for dinner.” Red and Joan make their first friends in the
neighborhood and go to a new small group Phil began in their living room a few
months later.
Tim's wife Julia passed away 10 years ago. They would have had their 50 year anniversary
this coming December. He doesn't believe
in going to church and works in the yard on Sundays instead. But several people of all ages in his duplex
neighborhood have been really nice to him, even though he suspects they're just
trying to get him to be religious like they are. They all go to the big church on the corner
Tim doesn't care much for. One day in
November three of them come over and hand him a big flyer. It says "You're Invited to Tim &
Julia's 50th Anniversary Party."
He never saw it coming and can't believe they even knew about it. In
December his neighbors throw a big bash and get him to pull out his old photos
of Julia and remember the best times of his life with her.
You're Invited. You’ve
got to love those words!
YOU’RE INVITED RIGHT NOW
First of all, you're invited to a party. Two thousand years ago Jesus was sitting
in a crowd one day when he told a story about a party that you're already
invited to (Matthew 22:1-14; Rev 19:7).
The story Jesus told goes like this: There was a King whose son was
getting married. He was going to throw a
party with a huge banquet that no one would want to miss out on if they knew
what it would be like. The king sent out
"You're invited" cards to many people in the land, the people
that already knew the King. When the
wedding banquet was about to begin he sent out his messengers to remind all the
invited people to come to the party.
Those he had invited either ignored the reminder because they were too
busy or even grabbed the messengers to beat and kill them.
The king retaliated for these slights and crimes, and the
group that was invited but did not come were never able to see the huge
banquet. The king then told his
remaining messengers to "go to the street corners and invite to the
banquet anyone you find." Jesus
said that the messengers gathered all kinds of people that were willing to come
to the party—good people and bad people—and the wedding hall was then packed
with people.
This is the party that you are invited to. You already have an invitation. If you have forgotten what it's all about
then this is your reminder. Jesus is the
King's son and he wants us all at the party.
In a variety of ways all of us, good and bad, are invited to come. We just have to get ready and show up for the
festivities. If you haven't accepted
this part of the invitation I'd like you to spend a week thinking about it,
then decide whether or not you'd like to get ready for the party in Heaven. At the end of this week’s devotional readings
there is a prayer you can pray to start your party preparations.
There's more to the invitation.
This invitation we've been given is what they call an "open
invitation." We can pass it on to
others. Think of it as an e-mail that
you can easily forward on to other people in your contact list. Or like a big stack of invitations to the
party that were sent to you with the postage already paid. You've just got to hand them out to people
you know.
The second part of this invitation means passing it on. It means telling others, “You’re invited
too.” We instinctively know this –
we sense all the time that we should increase our efforts to get more people,
good and bad, to that party in heaven.
The problem is that we're frustrated with the results. Much we've tried hasn't seemed to work. Other ideas we’ve never tried because it
seemed so far out of our personality.
Many things we've sensed we should do have seemed way too difficult and
strange. We see so much risk and failure
in inviting others to Jesus' party—and so we start to think the professional
messengers should just do it instead of us.
You know who the professional messengers are: the pastors and the
priests and the missionaries. But we
don't like this. We sense that is not
the way The King wants it. We sense that
we’re messengers too. We wonder if some
of the people we know, good and bad, won’t be at the party in heaven.
Which is the reason for the third part of this invitation. You're invited to get the most of this
book by fully engaging with it. If
you do you can radically change the number of people at that party because of
your life. Here's some real life ways to
begin to fully engage in The Fruitful Life:
·
Participate in the 40
Days of Fruitfulness with the whole church—There's something special
when a whole crowd of people get pumped up about something God is doing in all
of them at the same time. Prayer and
fasting as a larger community over these issues helps deepen the impact while
everyone does it together.
·
Meet for 6 straight weeks
with a small group and
discuss these issues in your own way. This could be your current small group, a
Bible study, a class, an accountability group or even just a group of 8 friends
(good or bad) or 5 couples. Write the
names of who you can do this with here:
·
Read one chapter a day. If
you don't already have a set time each day to pause to pray, read or journal,
this is the time to start. Your group
will be great encouragement to each other in this. There are 40 chapters here. If you get behind, catch up right away to
experience the same concepts with others at the same time. If you finish a chapter early, don't read
ahead. Just look more into the Bible
passages mentioned, journal or if you must just re-read the same day's
chapter. If you find yourself getting
ahead then take time along the way to dig deeper into the suggested resources
listed with each chapter. Again,
experience this with others at the same pace and it will deepen the impact.
Are you ready to accept the invitation?
For the next 40 days lets take a look at what the Bible really says
about fruit in our lives.
who does not walk in the counsel of the
wicked
or stand in the way of sinners
or sit in the seat of mockers.
But his delight is in the law of the Lord,
And on his law he meditates day and night.
He is like a tree planted by streams of
water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
Whatever he does prospers.
Psalm 1:1-3
1
Ì
Getting Connected To Christ
It’s all about your connection to Christ.
The most important thing you will be remembered for is how connected you
were to Jesus Christ. The legacy you
leave behind on planet earth will be a direct result of the quality of this
connection in your life. The reason is
that nothing of lasting value happens outside of Christ. Notice the word, “lasting” there. That’s the operative term.
There are many valuable things to spend your time with. I mow my grass most Saturdays. It’s a valuable use of my time. The Saturdays I skip mowing the lawn re
Eternal values are the things that last.
The ones that really matter after your time on earth is done. And these lasting values flow directly from
Christ. I can’t do much of lasting value
on my own. But the Bible tells us I can
do all things through Christ who gives me strength. It’s my connection to Jesus that enables,
empowers and energizes me to do things of lasting value. The lawn-mowing things of the world I can
(and should) do in my spare strength and time.
No other connection counts like this connection. I know some people who are pretty well
connected. In fact, a few of them are
what you would call “name-droppers.”
These are the people that continually work into conversations what
famous person they happened to be talking to earlier. They always work to make these name-dropping
times very casual, “Oh, the other day I was talking to so-and-so-famous-person
and they said…” Sometimes I like to mess
with these people and say to them, “You know, the other day the Pope, Bono, the
President and I were having coffee, and they said…”
But having connections really does help in life. Who you know is so important in
finding work and getting what we want that we are naturally envious of people
with better connections than us, and work hard to develop better connections
ourselves. I feel this way myself all
the time. I wonder, “If I only knew that
person or more people in that field, then I’d really do something to be
remembered for.” The problem is that all
these connections count for nothing when it comes to eternal things. They don’t count in what we should be
remembered for most.
Who
you know will still count. But there’s
only one person to know. It won’t matter
how much you knew your pastor, how much you know about Bible stories, or what
important Christian person you are a fan of.
When the end comes it’s all about your connection to Christ. He’s the only name we can drop to get into
heaven. The only problem for us
name-droppers is he’ll be there to confirm or deny whether we actually knew
him.
OUR
CONNECTION TO “THE LEAST”
Jesus
told another story that relates to that very moment and it is recorded for us
in the book of Matthew 25:31-46. In this
story Jesus tells us that one day he will sit on his throne in heaven and
divide all the people who ever lived into two groups. Jesus calls one of these groups “goats” and
the other group “sheep.” Now, it’s a
tough choice here because personally, I wouldn’t like to be either a sheep or a
goat. But that’s what Jesus calls
them. Then Jesus will tell the sheep on
his right, “Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the
kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to
eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you
invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked
after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”
Well,
this comes as quite a shock to the “sheep” Jesus tells us. They don’t recall ever doing any of those
things to Jesus. Nearly all of them have
never laid eyes on Jesus before that day anyway. So as a group they ask Jesus, when did we do any of those things to you?
Jesus answers, “I tell you the truth, whatever you
did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” Jesus makes it clear that when these “sheep”
met people’s needs – even strangers – here on earth they were in effect doing
it for Him! And so those on his right
get to spend eternity with him. There
was actual fruit in their lives of following him—so He gives them their reward.
Then Jesus turns to those on his right, the
“goats.” Now, you have to wonder why
this group doesn’t see it coming. They
just watched all the sheep get rewarded, and they’re in the “other group” and
Jesus is calling them “goats” and all.
But the pattern continues with one slight twist. Jesus says to them, “Depart from me, you who
are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. For I was hungry and you did not give me something to
eat, I was thirsty and you did not give me something to drink, I was a stranger
and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not cloth me, I was
sick and in prison and you did not look after me.”
This
also comes as quite a shock to the “goats.”
They don’t recall ever having the opportunity to help Jesus out of these
problems. You would remember something
like that. If Jesus called me up on the
phone and said, “Hey, I’m sick and in prison and I could use a good meal and
something to quench my thirst. Could you
stop by, and bring me a change of clothes – I don’t have any.” I would remember that! The “goats” protest and as a group ask Jesus,
when did we not do those things to help you?
Jesus
answers, “I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of
these, you did not do for me.”
FRUIT THAT LASTS
This
is a hard thing for us to hear. If we’re
honest, we’ll admit that most of us don’t do these things for others much at
all. Yet Jesus plainly tells us this
will happen and we aren’t phased by it?
Something must be wrong. Do we
really think that things have changed since then? Do we really believe that other religious
rituals have taken the place of these kinds of fruit?
Actually,
we likely haven’t thought about it enough.
The idea makes us feel to guilty—so we choose to ignore it. We move on to other religious activities that
fill the void of this kind of fruit. We
choose the Christian fruit that we can manage more easily: going to church,
acting like polite Christians, not sinning in public, displaying Christian
items in our homes or workplaces or vehicles.
These “evidences” of being a “sheep” are more manageable to us. They help us “feel” like we have Christian
fruit in our lives.
But
Jesus didn’t ask the goats what kind of bumper stickers they had. He asked what things of lasting value they
had done. He was only concerned about
eternal fruit.
Its
not that these other evidences are wrong—it’s just that they don’t count like
our connection to Christ. What Jesus
cares about is that we are connected to him with the kind of intensity that it
really shows in the way we live our lives.
That’s what eternal fruit is all about.
It’s fruit that lasts!
2
Ì
Spiritual
Formation for Ordinary People
Don’t worry…you can do it!
That first chapter may have bothered you a bit. It might have even poured a little more guilt
on your already burdened back. You might
be wondering, “I really don’t need even more of this guilt in my life.” You’re right.
But we did need that reminder for a moment. Jesus told that story about what counts most
to him – so it was worth our time to start there.
But how do we get there?
That’s the key question for us now.
How does an ordinary person get connected to Christ in such a way that
lasting fruit they’ll be remembered for is a constant part of their lives? This question alone is a really good reason for
the Church to exist. For two-thousand
years followers of Jesus Christ have gathered together and asked versions of
this question of one another and worked on ways to make it happen. We call that “the church.” Drawing upon all of that history from great
Christians and Christian movements in the past that figured it out way better
than you and I can (which is to say you and I are not making this stuff up
ourselves) this seems to be the general answer to that question, in reverse
order and stated as simply as possible:
HOW DO ORDINARY PEOPLE GET
CONNECTED TO CHRIST AND SHOW LASTING FRUIT?
Ordinary people can become so
intensely connected in Christ that in
all they do they show the fruit of that connection.
But in order to get that
connected in Christ…
Ordinary people first need to
experience long phases of growth in their connection to Christ so that their power in life truly comes
from Christ. Paul talked of this when he
wrote to the Galatian church he had started. He said, “But oh, my dear children! I feel as
if I am going through labor pains for you again, and they will continue until
Christ is fully developed in your lives” (Gal
But in order to grow in this
connection…
Ordinary people first need to
leave behind anything that hinders them in their relationship with Christ. The
book of Hebrews speaks to this directly when it says, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses
to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down,
especially the sin that so easily hinders our progress. And let us run with
endurance the race that God has set before us.
We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, on whom our faith depends from
start to finish” (Heb. 12:1-2a NLT).
There are things that weigh us down and entangle us. These “things” are often just “sins” we must
confess and root out. But there are
other things that hinder us. Reliance on
our own strength hinders us significantly.
We we as Christians come to the table of the
Lord’s Supper we should examine ourselves, as 1 Corinthians 11 tells us to, and
ensure that we’re not relying on anything but Christ for our salvation. Other things entangle us and restrict us from
freedom in Christ. These things must be
rooted out by believing the truth of Scripture about our own identity.
But in order to leave these
things behind…
Ordinary people first need to
cross the line and commit to Jesus Christ as their Savior. I
know the very day that I “became a Christian” back in 1980. It was July 21st in
But in order to cross that
line and commit…
Ordinary people first have to come to grips
with their sin. Realizing that we have all sinned is the key,
confessing that opens the lock, and asking for forgiveness of that sin pushes
the door wide open. Realizing that all
have sinned is as simple as this verse: For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God
(Romans
But in order to come to grips with their sin…
Ordinary
people first need to be walked through all the above by someone who loves them. We often call this evangelism. We also call it discipleship. Both words sound scary and intimidating to
many. But in the end they both have the
same starting point and ending point, so it’s kind of hard to distinguish
between the two. Jesus told us to go and
make disciples and that seems to imply both ideas in one. So let’s begin to think that way again. Don’t be someone “into” evangelism. Don’t be “more of a discipleship person than
an evangelist.” Jesus didn’t draw a line
between the two, so we shouldn’t. We
should focus on walking with other ordinary people through this whole process,
from beginning to end. And walking them
through it takes more than 5 minutes. It
may take 5 moths or 5 years. With some,
it may even take 5 decades. But walk
with them. You may get stuck at the
second phase or third for years with someone.
Don’t give up on them. Keep
walking with them.
Romans 10:14-15 says, “How, then, can
they call on the one they have not believed in?
And how can they believe in the one whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone
preaching it to them? And how can they
preach unless they are sent? As it is
written, ‘How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!’” So, it’s all up to you and your beautiful
feet! No pressure! Just keep walking.
3
Ì
What Does It Mean To Abide?
You’re just a branch.
One day Jesus sat down with his disciples and
explained what his relationship is supposed to look like. In the book of John in chapter 15 he briefly
shares one of the most beautiful word pictures ever conceived. What he shares is the absolute core of what
it means to have a relationship with Him.
And what he shares is the absolute key to The Fruitful Life.
Take the time right now to read what he said
here:
1"I am
the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 2He cuts off every
branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he
prunes[1]
so that it will be even more fruitful. 3You are already clean
because of the word I have spoken to you. 4Remain in me, and I will
remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine.
Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.
5"I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me
and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. 6If
anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and
withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. 7If
you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will
be given you. 8This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much
fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
9"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain
in my love. 10If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love,
just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. 11I
have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be
complete. 12My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for
his friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command. 15I
no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's
business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned
from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me,
but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit--fruit that will last.
Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17This is
my command: Love each other.
Wow!
It’s going to take us at least another 37 days to truly comprehend the
meaning of what Jesus says here. Isn’t
that always the way Jesus works? He says
just a little bit and then we’re caught thinking it through for so long
afterwards. The original 12 disciples
felt this way all the time – so we’re not in bad company. We’ll just do what they did: ask a lot of
questions and be patient with God and ourselves as we live out the answers.
NOUNS:
VINEYARD
The first big question we have has to do with
the nouns. By nouns I’m speaking of the whole word
picture itself. How do vines, branches
and gardeners work anyway? Most of us
don’t have vineyards growing in our back yards so we need to know a bit more.
Vines are a plant that twist and turn as they
grow. They can become almost tree-like
in their quality, with branches that bear fruit. They grow along the ground, up a fence or
vine-post, or even up a building or another tree.
The key concept for Christ is the fruit which
the branches of a vine produce. They
produce grapes… but for Jesus these grapes had a profound meaning. What does Jesus mean when he talks of “fruit”
so much to his discliples?
Fruit is a matter of qualities and
results. Fruit can either be a quality
that is grown in you because of your healthy connection to the vine of Jesus
Christ. Or it can be results that are
grown from you, even on you, like grapes on a vine branch, because of that same
healthy connection. The entire key to
The Fruitful Life is ensuring you are connected to Christ in such a way that
you have these qualities and results in your life, or you might say, from your life.
VERBS:
ABIDING
The second big question has to do with the verbs.
By verbs I’m speaking of the word “remain”? What does Jesus mean by that? In some translations we have the word,
“abide” instead. He says it over and
over in this talk with his disciples.
It’s the key verb of the entire idea.
It all hinges on “remaining” or rather, “abiding.” We better figure that out.
What is Abiding?
ABIDING
IS A MATTER OF LOCATION
Abiding in the Bible is used to mean “not to
stray.” This has the connotation of
location. Abiding is about where you are. Whenever the Bible talks about being “in
Christ” or “in God” (and it does so very much) it has this meaning of
abiding. Are you remaining in Him – that’ the key question for the
man or woman who wants a Fruitful Life.
ABIDING
IS A MATTER OF DURATION
Abiding in the Bible is also meant to point
to duration. Abiding in the location
mentioned (namely, Jesus Christ), continually
or for a length of time. When Paul tells us to “pray continually,” it is another instruction related to
abiding.
ABIDING
IS A MATTER OF OBEDIENCE
As is clearly stated in John 15, abiding is
also a simple matter of obedience. The
branch does what the vine tells it to.
The church is often called the body of Christ. And likewise many often refer to Christ as
the Head. Well, your body, except for
some major injury to your nervous system, does what the head tells it to
do. If you want your left hand to grab
the toothpaste and your right the toothbrush they do these things. That is the intended way for the church to
react to Christ. When it’s not
happening, that’s disobedience. And that
means a major injury to your spiritual nervous system must be breaking down
your communication and connection to Christ.
ABIDING
IS A MATTER OF ENDURANCE
But Abiding is not only about where and how
long and what you do for Christ. It also
means enduring whatever may try to cut it off.
Abiding means finishing well—not just starting off great. Abiding means you not only walk the joyful
journey straight but that you walk through the valley of the shadow of death
connected to the Vine.
ABIDING
IS A MATTER OF FRATERNITY
By fraternity I mean union, or brotherhood. We are connected with Christ in a unique and
preferable way. There is almost a sense
of equality in the words Jesus uses in John 15:15. He says, “I no longer call you servants…
Instead I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father
I have made known to you.” It is as
though Christ elevates us to achieve what he achieved and use the power he
has. As Martin Luther said, “All
that Christ has now becomes the property of the believing soul; all that the
soul has, becomes the property of Christ.”
You’re just a
branch. Don’t confuse your role. When Jesus speaks to you in John, you see
that you’re just a branch attached to him and that your identity in that role
is the key to your fruitfulness. When
you abide in the location that is
Christ, and do so for a long duration
out of obedience and with endurance, you receive the benefits of fraternity in Christ. You become fruitful, because that which is
attached to the vine bears fruit. It’s
just how it works.
4
Ì
Rechargeable Batteries or Extension Cords?
Your power comes from your connection.
You are powerless on your own. All of your frustrations in life come from
trying to take control over things you have no power to control. And what has drawn you most to God of
anything was getting to the place where you admitted this powerlessness and
went to Him to get through. This is why
the biggest crises of your life have made you think the most about God. This is contrary to our human logic. You would think that tough times would make
us run from God. Yes, sometimes people
use the worst things in their lives to shut out God and the world – but over
time, or many times in the privacy of their own minds, they are asking God for
help.
But even after you’ve admitted your powerlessness over
things you can’t control you can drift into depending on yourself and others for
strength. You forget that your power
comes from your connection to Christ.
I like tools.
I’m a man, so that is nearly mandatory.
I especially like drills. Drills
are very manly. They’re like hammers in
their manliness. Except they are even
better, because they also include a little thing called “power.” When holding a power drill I can see myself
taking apart or putting together anything in my entire house. I’ve found the first task to be easier than
the second… but anyway, that’s how it makes me feel.
For years I had this wimpy little power drill
with a rechargeable battery. The bottom
of the drill would slide out and I would put it in a plug-in station where it
would charge up after it ran out of “juice” (as I always call it). That was the theory, at least. It had two problems, however. First, I would always forget to recharge the
battery when I was done with a big job.
After I was done doing some incredibly manly project for my wife, I
would toss the drill in my pile of tools and go watch football. I would forget to recharge. Then when I wanted to use it again for even a
simple little screw turning job it would make that depressing winding down
noise and I would have to complain to my wife about not getting the job done. Secondly, the drill also had a “memory
problem.” You may know what I’m talking
about here if you own an older digital camera or video camera, or, if you
happen to have had this same drill I had.
Some rechargeable batteries have a “memory,” I’m told. They tell me (and by “they” I
mean, “men more manly than me”) that these batteries remember at what
point they were recharged the last time.
So if I had 75% of my power used up when I recharged the battery, then
the next time I used it the battery would begin to shut down with 25% of it’s
“juice” still left. Not having enough
man-smarts to understand this, nor the patience to stand for 30 minutes running
out the last bit of juice, I would recharge the battery before all it’s juice
was out. So, after several years using
my wimpy powerless drill it would max out when recharging with only about 3% of
it’s power potential. I could lock the
gears and then manually turn the whole drill around in circles to drill in a screw
but that’s about all it was good for—a very heavy, awkward and elaborate screw
driver.
During these days of powerless drill problems
I would reminisce of the days when I was a little boy and my father would go
into the garage to get his power drill.
He would come back with a little case of drill bits and the most massive
and simple drill in the world. It was
mostly the color of plain silver steel, as though any decorations or color
would have offended its manly manufacturer.
It had only one button, which was the trigger. No adjustments needed. It had one speed: “Super-Manly Speed.” All it could do was drill a hole to
His drew its power through an extension
cord. Sure—he lost a bit of independence
because of that. He couldn’t go out into
a field far away from the house and drill things. But since 99% of the time we were in the
garage or the house with outlets everywhere that didn’t matter. His drill—decades older than mine—worked so
well because it was directly connected to the source of power!
Are you?
Christian culture today has become largely
rechargeable. We ask people to stop in
from time to time to the church building and get their spiritual batteries
recharged. We file in, hook up, charge
up, and then head out. We’re
independent. We think this system makes
us more versatile… more able to take our faith wherever we want. But too often we forget to recharge. We feel worn out in nearly every way. Our spiritual recharge memory lets so much go
in one ear and out the other. We don’t
“get as much out of” church as we used to.
We don’t feel fed enough. So
early in the week we hear our spiritual battery making that depressing winding
down sound.
We need to get back to the extension cord
method as Christians. We need to be
directly connected to the source of power!
We may feel like we lose a bit of independence by being so 100%
dependent on Christ, but we won’t miss it.
Our independence is only giving us headaches because of too much
responsibility. We need a simple and
full-time connection to Christ. Then
when we go to our churches it’s not to “get something out of it”… it’s to “give
something to it.” And when we reach out
to those around us we won’t be caught winding down on our own batteries, we’ll
transfer the power of Christ directly to them from the source.
Now that sounds pretty manly to me too!
[ADD:
John 15:5-6 reference
5
Ì
Spiritual Pruning
Sometimes you just need an extreme spiritual makeover.
Have you ever looked in the mirror and didn’t like what you saw? There are those seasons of life where we
actually avoid mirrors. Or other times
we move into an obsessive-compulsive mirror-gazing. We look to change every little problem we see
in ourselves. Nearly every junior-high
kid comes to a point when they don’t like what they see—and unfortunately, our
bodies are not usually too kind to us when we reach the same age that we start
to care about the way we look.
MAKEOVER MODE
In order to solve this mirror-problem people go into “makeover
mode.” They way people react to this
amazes me to this day—even though it’s commonplace in our culture. A young lady’s friends will surprise her by
showing up with video cameras and TV producers who spring the “good” news on
her: we’re going to give you a makeover.
Now, every time I’ve ever seen this happen, the girl getting the
makeover is ecstatic with joy on camera.
YEAH! I’m getting made-over! But what I don’t get is why that person isn’t
totally offended. Her friends are
basically saying, “You look bad. So bad
in fact that we will need professionals to improve your look.” They don’t pull her aside and tell her this
confidentially, which would be bad enough in my mind. Instead, they spring it to her while being
filmed for our enjoyment, and her embarrassment. Sometimes they do this on live TV! I just don’t get it.
There must be something in those makeover targets that is so strong that
it overcomes the embarrassment. Some
urge so intense that they respond with joy when told they look bad. That urge must be the desire to change. The desire to be different that they already
are. The desire to be better than they
have been. We all have this in us. We want to change. But how?
SPIRITUAL
We get this urge when we examine our spiritual selves as much as our
physical selves. Every once in a while
we take a too long—too hard look at our spiritual lives. We see every tiny blemish and ugly wrinkle in
our spiritual faces. Most days we try to
cover these up with our cheerful responses to “how ya
doin?” We even
pretend to be mostly content with our spiritual growth when asked or when
thinking about it. We reason, “I’m doing
better than most.” But from time to time
this spiritual makeup comes off and we get a good long look at who we really
are. At that point, we feel two things:
a deep sense of guilt and a desire to change.
Guilt is a so often a negative motivator. Many feelings of guilt come from other
people. That’s the first kind of
guilt. It’s secondary guilt. This secondary guilt is unhelpful and may
weigh you down and even incapacitate you.
Guilt was “heaped on” you. Be
freed from that kind of guilt. The Bible
says “…there is now no condemnation for those whom are in Christ Jesus…”
(Romans 8:1). Guilt heaped on you is
condemnation. They condemn you and give
you the ugly gift of secondary guilt.
That’s a gift you should not accept.
Return to sender.
The second kind of guilt is primary-guilt. This is the gnawing kind of guilt that “gets
at you” from the inside. Usually you
feel disappointed with yourself when experiencing this kind of guilt. You get down on yourself. Every once in a while when I’m driving in a
car with my wife or even just sitting in the living room I will make a
noticeable grunt or low sigh. My wife
will say, “What’s wrong.” This kicks me
out of my thought pattern. Nearly every
time that happens I realize that I am getting down on myself about
something. I feel guilty about something
I did wrong. It is primary-guilt. And the guilt I feel may be 10 days or 10
years old! That inner primary guilt can
paralyze me and make me lose all sense of identity as a Christian. That passage in Romans 8 continues in verse
two saying “…because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me
free from the law of sin and death.” I
need to remember that my primary self-guilt is set free—and through Christ I
can live in the Spirit.
The third kind of guilt is all together different. It is spiritual guilt. Many times spiritual guilt is hard to discern
between the other two kinds of guilt.
Often we will feel guilty about our spiritual lives, but it might not
actually be spiritual guilt. It is quite
possible to feel guilty about not doing this or that spiritual task or
discipline, but only because someone else is heaping that guilt upon us. That is just secondary guilt applied to
spiritual things. We also get down on
ourselves about our progress spiritually.
We look in the spiritual mirror and don’t like what we see—this is often
just primary guilt applied to spiritual things.
We must realize that spiritual guilt doesn’t come from ourselves or from
others… it comes from the Spirit of God.
This spiritual guilt is not negative, but positive. It points out in us what is in need of true
change and immediately offers the solution to overcoming it. There is a sure-fire way to tell whether the
guilt you are experiencing is not spiritual guilt, but one of the other kinds
of guilt. Test it to see if there seem
to be any good options towards being forgiven for the wrong and overcoming the
guilt. If there just seems to be no
forgiveness or way out of that guilt, then it was likely heaped on you by
others or boiled up in you as primary guilt.
If you feel that forgiveness is possible and there is a way showing = to
overcome the guilt, then it is most likely being offered by the Spirit. In Hebrews
That process just described is grace.
God never gives guilt without grace.
There’s a lesson there to learn and live. Never find guilt without freeing grace. This is true for yourself and the way you
view others. If you find guilt in
yourself, free grace within you to overcome it.
If you find guilt in others, free grace towards them to overshadow
it! The guilt is there—it’s a matter of
fact and a fact of life. But the grace
is so much more powerful against guilt, which is why God invented it.
The second thing we often feel when looking in the spiritual mirror is
the desire to change. We feel that
spiritual guilt and know we need to live different. We know we want to be better than we’ve been.
But often we try to change on our own.
We use methods that others suggest.
We mimic them. It often doesn’t
work. We don’t change in the end. We’re the same. We’re often even worse, because we’ve lost
our motivation to change since we tried and failed.
This is all because we’re trying to change ourselves. It just doesn’t work. Men and women have been trying to change
themselves for thousands of years on their own and it hasn’t panned out that
well. We need an outside source for
change.
In John 15 Jesus gives us the key to change. Continuing with his beautiful imagery about
the vine and branches, he says, “…my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no
fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be
even more fruitful.” In the first part
here we see the stark reality that fruit is expected and required. We’ll get to that a whole lot more later on
in this book in chapter ___. But in the
second part you read about the spiritual pruning process God works in you. For those branches that show some fruit—God
has a specific action he takes. He
doesn’t just slap you on the back and say, “way to go!” and move on. No, he pulls out his knife and cuts you!
Okay, now it’s not seeming that positive at this point is it? I heard one guy interpreting this passage and
he said, “I’ve read John 15 and they way I see it, I’m gonna
get cut either way so I better give up.”
That’s not Jesus’ intention at all here.
Pruning is the process of cutting away the excess on a branch to focus
the energy on new growth. If we don’t
allow God to prune us in this way then we won’t change. In Matthew
GOING UNDER THE KNIFE
Those in “makeover mode” will sometimes go to such extremes as getting
plastic or reconstructive surgery. Some
shows on television document this self-obsessive and emotionally tormenting
process. They often call it “going under
the knife” to improve themselves.
Wouldn’t it make more sense to go under God’s pruning knife
instead? That’s his perfect plan for
us. In a world obsessed with changing
everything we can about our outsides, we’ve so often failed to let God change a
thing about our insides. Hebrews 12:1
says, “Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily
entangles….” We branches could bear so
much more fruit for God if we allowed him to do this pruning work in us. You can’t do this surgery on yourself. If you’ve already tried, you know the scars
it leaves. When you feel spiritual guilt
it’s time to sit back and let the Great Physician cut out what he knows you and
He don’t need anymore.
6
Ì
The Proof of Fruit
Fruit is natural for every believer.
If you have a plant in your garden or your
landscaping around your house, you expect it to grow and be healthy. If all the conditions are right, it
will. If that plant doesn’t grow and
doesn’t produce fruit in the season it is supposed to, then there is a
problem. Not enough sun, or too
much? Not enough water, or again, too
much? More fertilizer perhaps? Maybe a rodent is chewing on it?
Whatever the case, if your plant isn’t
producing you go hunting for the reasons and solutions. There’s two things you don’t do: You don’t
simply assume it’s a bad plant—as though it wasn’t made right. You also don’t start expecting less of the
plant—as though it wasn’t meant to grow and produce.
You were meant to grow and produce. And you were made just right for the job.
The church has become to complacent with lack
of fruit. When a plant doesn’t grow and
produce, we go hunting for the reasons and solutions. We look to change the conditions and start
looking for fruit again. So, when a
disciple doesn’t grow and produce, why do we go hunting for excuses and
stipulations? Why do we assume it we
just weren’t made to produce like other people?
Why do start expecting less of ourselves—as though we weren’t meant to grow
and produce.
Here’s why:
The church today is too often conditions
centered rather than fruit focused.
After centuries of Christianity some patterns emerged about what
spiritual conditions caused the most fruit in the lives of ordinary
disciples. Today they sound like the
usual suspects to us—but it took a while to figure these things out. The key conditions have seemed to us to be but
not limited to, the following: prayer, going to church, devotional reading of
scripture, giving, doing good deeds, meeting the needs of the down-and-out,
being nice to each other, singing songs to God, proclaiming the Gospel to
others, and fasting. These and other
conditions over time have shown themselves to be key ingredients to making a
disciple grow and produce fruit. So in a
logical way when there was not fruit in the past the answer came by adding a
little more of one of these conditions, to re-enliven us and make the
conditions of our lives more hospitable to growth and fruit.
This made sense. However, over time the diagnosis phase,
meaning the time when “we noticed the growth and fruit were missing” was
neglected. The focus shifted from
noticing fruit to the conditions that usually caused it. This conditions-centered Christianity
accelerated through history as everything “added up” we thought, to fruit. The problem is that any discerning believer
from the Apostle Paul to my grandmother would have told you that you can do the
things in that list and still not have your heart in the right place. You can do the actions and create the
conditions and still not be truly connected to Christ. You can center your life on conditions and
still not produce fruit.
The fruit comes from our connection to
Christ. And we cannot grow outside of
him.
Even worse, over time we have not only
centered our Christian walk on the conditions, but have even narrowed the
center to certain ways to practice the conditions. So we all go around trying to imitate they
way other people have created conditions in their lives to grow and produce
fruit and feel like we’ve accomplished something when we’ve achieved a near
perfect pitch mimic of another person’s spiritual condition. But somewhere along the way we forgot the
point—to produce fruit! If it’s not
there, you still have to go back and check the conditions, even if they seemed
right for another person before.
One time my wife bought a present for my
grandmother when we were visiting them in
Once we got back home we got word that
grandma had opened the box and didn’t realize they were soaps. She thought they were chocolates. After a big soapy bite she realized they were
in fact soap. However, being a thrifty
woman that survived and overcame the Great Depression, grandma got out her
grater and grated each of those ornate soaps into fine strips, then put them in
her pump soap dispenser! She thanked my
wife for giving her that useful gift.
You can’t judge a book by its cover. Some things appear to be one thing but are
actually another. We human beings are
great at making something look like something else. The only thing we do better than imitation is
manipulation. We manipulate people into
thinking something is what it isn’t.
Entire industries such as advertising and public relations are caught up
in this manufactured image-manipulation.
This human trait is of course evident in our
spiritual lives as well. We’ve
substituted other kinds of proof for the proof God is looking for. In John 15:8 Jesus said, “This is to my
father’s glory, that you bear much fruit—showing yourselves to be my
disciples.” We must show ourselves to be
what we saw we are, by showing fruit.
For many years a pudding company built their
advertising around the phrase, “The proof is in the pudding.” The idea was that whatever is said in
advertisements and promises on the box, end the end, the only proof is what the
pudding tastes like.
When it comes to our spiritual lives, the
proof is in the fruit. It’s
required. Fruit is not optional. No matter what we say to others or how many
promises we make, the proof is the fruit.
“…A tree is recognized by it’s fruit.” –
Matthew 12:33
7
Ì
The Ultimate Fruit: Love
The word love is perhaps the most used and
sought after word in our language. It is
also the most complex and meaningful word we have. Love is what we are to be known for as
Christians. But love is so often the
last thing we display. We must figure
out this ultimate fruit of love. It will
take more than rosy poetic descriptions to get there. We may need to get very practical to first
see whether we really do love on another, and then get very specific about how
we hope to get to the next level in our love.
In his book, The 3 Colors of Love,
German Church Growth researcher Christian Schwarz investigates the quality
characteristic of love in the church.
Love, he tells us, is a matter of reflecting the character of God in our
lives. We have already seen that we
cannot have growth and fruit without being connected to the “vine.” So this makes perfect sense to us.
Through his research, Schwarz also points out
that there are three qualities frequently used in the scriptures to describe
God, and these qualities overlap one another but each represent a different
side of love. In this chapter we will
take a look at the teaching on Love by this man. He gives us a fascinating and practical way
of building more love into our lives, and the overall life of the church. The
three qualities of God that add up to love are: Truth, Justice & Grace.
These three words, or rather, their Hebrew
counterparts, are found clustered together in several Psalms describing God
(Psalm 33:4-5; 36:5-6; 40:10; 88:11-12; 98:2-3; 119:75-76). It seems that when the Psalmist wants to
describe God in a threefold way, these three concepts are the immediate
choice. And it makes sense when we
re-emphasize that God is Trinity. God
the Father has always been associated with Justice. God the Son is the Truth which we proclaim
for salvation. And God the Holy Spirit
works in and through us to offer Grace to those in and outside of the
faith. The Trinity is Justice, Truth
& Grace in like manner as it is Father, Son & Holy Spirit.
But there lies our problem. When we determine that we do not love, it is
often because we overemphasize one part of love and exclude another. There are those of us who are all about truth
and justice. We seek to right
wrongs and do right, and to make things fair.
And we point out the absolute truth of Jesus Christ as our Savior. Yet we may still lack the grace
portion of Love. We may only meet
physical needs and not offer the grace to overcome spiritual needs. And we use the truth as a sledgehammer
without offering it in grace. You might
call that speaking the truth without grace (love). This results in a merciless love. And there are those of us who are all about grace
and truth. We communicate the
truth of Jesus Christ and we offer it with grace to all who would accept the
open forgiveness of God. Yet we may
still lack the justice portion of love.
We may forget to also have genuine compassion for those in need, while
focusing only on communicating the truth.
This results in an unjust love.
And there are those of us who are all about grace and justice. We offer forgiveness and grace to others for
anything and everything, and we have great compassion for the situation of
others. Yet we may still lack the truth
portion of love. People receive
forgiveness and compassion but never hear the truth which saves. This results in a deceiving love.
We must ask ourselves which kind of love to
we gravitate towards and which one do we run from? In order to love one another more fully, we
must practice the kind of love we don’t naturally think or feel. In this way, love can be learned.
Spend some time journaling here about the way
you love others. Here’s some questions
to get you started:
·
Do others in the church know that I love them? How would they be sure?
·
Do others in outside of my church know that I love
them? How would they be sure?
·
Do I have a sense of justice in the way I love
people?
·
Do I have a sense of truth in the way I love
people?
·
Do I have a sense of grace in the way I love
people?
Week One
01.02.03.04.05.06.07
Group Questions
1) What was one of the best invitations you’ve ever received?
2) Exercise: Read Psalm 1:1-3 on page 6 of the book out loud together as a group. Go back and everyone circle the words that
have to do with growing and plants. Now
everyone close their eyes and have one group member read the same passage again
to the group.
3) Where do you think you are at in the process described in day two?
4) As a group come up with a definition for John 15 concept of “abiding”
in your own words:
a*bide"\,v.t.1.________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
5) In what ways do we all act more like rechargeable batteries than
extension cords? (day four)
6) When in your life have you felt like you went through a time of God’s
Spiritual Pruning?
7) Make a long list of the conditions that the group feels produce fruit:
©2004 David
Drury
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