By Rev. Duane Otto, Christ Community Church of Chenoa
There are two kinds of farmers, generally speaking. There are those naturally drawn to projects that have visible and measurable outcomes. They like to work on machinery, build things, or work with numbers and spreadsheets. Conversely, there are those that are inspired by the growth process. They give special attention to plant health, animal nutrition, and the strategies necessary to promote vitality and fruit bearing. They are pastoral at heart, desiring wholeness over concrete results.
Like most things, the secret to success is keeping these two approaches in perspective, seeing the role of each, and not neglecting one over the other. For instance, when spreadsheets become the focus then one can easily be consumed with making money. Soon this takes all your energy and you lose sight of the ultimate purpose of nurturing and stewarding that which the Lord is growing in your midst. And, most worryingly, because management decisions seem to be the most important factor in this tight economy, it is easy to justify a breathless, fruitless pace in one’s personal life.
Not surprisingly, the same holds true in the church. The Bible uses the imagery of a vine and a trellis to convey this twofold perspective. For example, a trellis is a necessary aspect of fruit bearing. It is a physical structure sturdy enough to support the weight of the vine. Without it, the vine would lie in the dust and soon rot and decay. But a trellis is not the main priority of the gardener. It does not need to be embellished or extravagant; indeed, adding such things may potentially hinder the growth of the vine.
All that said, what would you say is your inclination? Is it to focus on the trellis or major in the things of the vine? I think it is safe to say that the tension of trellises and vines will always be a part of any church culture. For instance, some of us feel the pressure to build programs and tally numbers (trellis). And that’s generally okay. Management, infrastructure, policies, and programs are necessary aspects of a growing and flourishing church. We need gifted trellis-workers. But the ultimate question is this: What is the status of the vine? Which leads to some underlying questions, like: Do the vinedressers outnumber the trellis-workers? Are you seeing spiritual growth? Is your pastor the only disciple maker? Is the pastor expected to manage the church AND help people grow? Do the trellis-workers see their work in the light of the Gospel?
These are the kinds of questions our elders in training will be wrestling with at Christ Community Church of Chenoa next month. By God’s grace, we want to be a church that humbly invites the Owner of the vineyard to work in and through us so that we will find great joy in tending the vines that have been entrusted to us and we will rejoice at the fruit they bear.
For this to happen, though, we need to remember how spiritual growth happens. In His Upper Room Discourse in John 13 to 17, Jesus talks about fruit: “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches, He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing” (15:4-5).
In this parable Jesus is teaching that spiritual growth, or vine work, comes when we totally surrender to Jesus. The life-sap of Jesus, which is His Spirit, moves through us when we are utterly dependent upon Him.
What does this look like? Author and teacher, Sinclair Ferguson, identifies at least four things from this passage. The first is daily dependence on the grace of Jesus through prayer because we can do nothing without Him. The second is obedience to Jesus and His teachings. Paul echoes this idea in Colossians 3:16, where he writes, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly,” a statement closely related to his parallel exhortation in Ephesians 5:18: “be filled with the Spirit.” Our fruit bearing in other words is intimately tied to what we do with our Bibles. The third thing is resting your life on the love of Christ (15:9). On this, Ferguson writes, “We must not drift from daily contemplation of the cross as the irrefutable demonstration of that love, or from dependence on the Spirit who sheds it abroad in our hearts.” And lastly, Jesus calls us to abide by accepting the pruning knife of our heavenly Father.
This is how spiritual growth works. It is a holistic approach. The fruit of a new life comes through union with Jesus that flows from the inside out. Programs and management techniques must be designed and run to optimize this growth process. Which brings us back to the big picture. How is the farm and church related? They are both fruit bearing enterprises. Both need a trellis system that is designed to facilitate and optimize the growth process. If they are not aligned in this way, they will create a culture that resists change. Rigidity will set in. Growing the trellis will become the focus. (To explore this metaphor further, I highly recommend the book, The Trellis and the Vine, by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne.)