Month: July 2020

Are You A Fruitful Christian?

Last week we looked at Ezekiel’s image of a useless vine. We found the questions posed by God in chapter 15 to be breathtaking. They cut to the quick and lay bare the heart. God is asking His people to remember the purpose of a vine.

What is the purpose of a vine? It is to bear fruit. Is there any other purpose for a vine? The answer given is, “no.” Unlike an oak tree, we are told a vine’s worth is dependent upon the quality of its fruit. It has no other redemptive purpose. No one cultivates vines to harvest the wood. In fact, as the parable reminds us, the only good one can obtain from a fruitless vine is fuel for a fire.

We concluded last time that all of this is significant and quite shocking because how does Israel see herself? Routinely, she is likened to a vine that God planted with the aim of gathering fruit. In other words, God’s people see themselves as God’s choice vineyard! But what is the Gardner’s assessment? We are told Jacob’s descendants have become fruitless. And consequently, like a barren plant, they are good for nothing but fuel for the fire.

This raises two pivotal questions. What is the reason for the bareness of God’s people? And what is the consequence for the nation? Verse 8 gives the answer to both. It reads: “And I will make the land desolate, because they have acted faithlessly, declares the Lord God.” Notice there is a cause and effect relationship. Desolation in the land and faithlessness on the part of God’s people are linked in the providence of God.

Interestingly enough, this same connection is made in the New Testament. In John 15, Jesus picks up the theme of a choice vineyard and equates the believer’s faith as abiding in Him and faithlessness as a fruitless branch. We are told Christians are the branches and Jesus is the Vine. To be found fruitless, is to be considered barren, making a person good for nothing but fuel for the fire (15:6).

“Bearing fruit is the call of God upon every believer’s life!”

I personally do not know a sincere Christian that wants to be useless. But given the fact that the church is a mixed community, and we are prone to lose our first love, it may be good in these desolate times to ponder what it means to be fruitful – what it means in other words to have a living union with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Let’s consider five common characteristics.

First, a fruitful Christian winsomely proclaims and leads others to Christ (See Romans 1:13; Proverbs 11:30; Mark 1:17; John 4:35; 2 Corinthians 5:20). The ministry of proclaiming and leading others to Christ has many facets to it, but all (not some) who are in Christ have the responsibility of sowing seeds and being ambassadors of His gospel of grace, even if we don’t have the privilege of participating in the reaping.

Second, the Bible tells us that a fruitful Christian lovingly helps others grow in Christ (See Matthew 28:18-20; Ephesians 4:11-16; Colossians 1:28; Titus 2:1-15; Hebrews 10:24; James 3:1). Leading others to Christ is the first step in making disciples. Once a Christian is grafted into the Vine by faith, he or she must be discipled and taught all the teachings of Jesus. Helping others in this transformation process is essential, not an option.

Third, a fruitful Christian who abides in Christ and shares his or her life with others will produce the fruit of personal holiness (See Romans 6:22; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Galatians 5:22-23). Like a ripening ear of corn, the Spirit through faith fills and adds girth to the soul. Specifically, through daily repentance and dependence upon the Lord, the Spirit produces peace, joy, patience, kindness, humility, love, steadfastness, and joy.

Fourth, the Bible tells us that a fruitful Christian shares what he or she possesses (See Acts 2:44-45; Romans 15:28; 1 John 3:17). We have all been made stewards of God’s resources (See Matthew 25:14-30; Luke 17:7-10; 19:12-27), and have been given the responsibility of investing it in his eternal work by caring for the needs of others.

Fifth, a fruitful Christian abides in Christ for the sake of reconciling all people to God and each other (See Leviticus 19:15; Deuteronomy 15:11; Ezekiel 16:49; Luke 14:13; Romans 12:20; 2 Corinthians 5:18-21; John 15:12, 17:20; James 1:27). A Christian bearing fruit will enter into the suffering of the oppressed and poor, not dismiss it or excuse it. He or she will follow Christ’s example and pray the church becomes one. Christ’s desire is not Asian-Americans here and Latinos there, Afro-Americans here and Anglo-Americans somewhere else. A fruit bearing Christian longs for nothing less than complete unity in the body of Christ, for there is only one vineyard and one Vinedresser. 

There are many more characteristics of a fruitful Christian. But the point the Bible is making is that for a vineyard to flourish, (and by extension the world to flourish) each individual branch has to respond to the attention of the Vinedresser, which means not all branches will respond alike. There will be some that seek to yield to Christ more than others. Thus when the great harvest day arrives, it will be revealed that each of us has produced a different-sized crop. And yes, that day will also reveal why fire is the only reward of a useless branch. 

No fruit. Some fruit. More fruit. Much fruit. Which are you producing? If the land is desolate, and I think we all would agree that it is, shouldn’t this be the big question that weighs heavy on our hearts as Christians? Isn’t this the big lesson of the parable of the Ten Virgins (See Matthew 25)? They never took care of the lamp (basket) they were given. The Bridegroom arrives, finds it empty, and even says that he does not know them because they never cared about the Bridegroom and that is why they are unprepared now.

Bruce Wilkerson, founder and president of “Walk Thru the Bible,” says in his book Secrets of the Vine, that he has asked audiences all over the world how they would describe the “fruitfulness” of Christians today. They consistently conclude that about half of all people who identify as “Christians” bear very little or no fruit, a third bear some fruit, (ten percent bear more fruit), and only five percent bear a lot of fruit. 

Friends, bearing fruit is the call of God upon every believer’s life. It is our destiny (Romans 7:4). So let me encourage you to do the hard thing. Not the conformist thing. Turn your gaze inward. Not outward (Matthew 7:5). Take time to ponder the characteristics of a fruitful Christian and then ask the Holy Spirit, “How full is my basket?” And then be prepared to let go of all the things that stand in the way of His life-giving sap, like: our pride of heritage, our security in our cultural identity, our comfort in our color, and our unwillingness to surrender and obey all the teachings of Christ (John 15:9). Abiding in Christ is all about intimacy with God. You won’t be disappointed with the results!

A Useless Vine

In less than two months, our nation will remember the nearly 3,000 people killed in the terror attacks at the World Trade Center. Pat Robertson, by his own admission, says foolish things in public. But when he suggested that the two airplanes that brought down the towers were divine judgment on our land, many Christians couldn’t distance themselves fast enough from these remarks, especially as certain people in the media howled at the very idea. 

No one completely knows the mind of God on matters like this. But I can’t help but wonder in light of all that is currently happening in our nation why so many Christians distance themselves from these types of remarks? Why are such conclusions considered foolish? 

Were Robertson’s remarks offensive because God doesn’t punish sin? Is it because God never uses evil people with their own agenda to exercise His judgment? Is it because He would never ruin a city in some devastating way? Is it because some of the righteous perished with the wicked? Is it because the Lord never sends foretastes of his judgment to warn a wayward people of worse things to come? What was there about 9-11, biblically speaking, that made people so sure that this was not an act of severe mercy on the part of God?

“And I will make the land desolate, because they have acted faithlessly, declares the Lord God.”

Ezekiel 15:8

In the book of Ezekiel, we are given a very helpful window into the mind of God. The book is filled with prophecies of the impending judgment of Jerusalem and Israel. And I believe there is much for us to learn today about the ways of God as they are communicated through these warnings. 

The book is divided into three sections. The first section is filled with warnings to God’s people. The second is filled with warnings to the nations. And the last is the promise of mercy and salvation for those who repent and surrender their lives to the Lord. Today we like to focus on the second and third section, but what about the first?

In chapter 15 we are given the image of a fruitless vine. The questions posed are breathtaking. They cut to the quick and lay bare the heart. God is asking His people to remember their purpose. What is the purpose of a vine? It is to bear fruit. Is there any other purpose for a vine? The answer given is, no. Unlike an oak tree, a vine’s worth is dependent upon the quality of its fruit. It has no other redemptive purpose. No one uses a vine to make furniture. No one cultivates vines to harvest the wood. In fact, as the parable reminds us, the only good one can obtain from a fruitless vine is fuel for a fire. 

All of this is significant and quite shocking because how does Israel see herself? Routinely, Israel is likened to a vine that God planted with the aim of gathering fruit. In other words, God’s people see themselves a God’s choice vineyard. But what is the Gardner’s assessment of the vineyard? We are told that Jacob’s descendants have become fruitless. And consequently, like a barren plant, they are good for nothing but the fire. 

This leads to the pivotal question. What is the reason for the bareness God’s people? Verse 8 gives the answer: “And I will make the land desolate, because they have acted faithlessly, declares the Lord God.”

Given all the cries for justice and the moral chaos raining down on our nation today, I can’t help but wonder. Could it be that the church is experiencing the same crisis as the people of God in Ezekiel’s day? Could it be that many within the church have become faithless? Could it be that for too long we have been so focused on preserving our nation, rights, comforts, and freedom to indulge the flesh (Gal. 5:13) that we have we forgotten what our sole purpose is in this fallen world? Could it be that the people of God then, and the people of God today, do not seriously ponder the possibility that God is awakening us to the possibility of far worse things to come because we are spiritually inclined to ignore the possibility that we are barren?

This, of course, is the tone deafness of our first parents Adam and Eve. One of the causes of their fall into sin was disbelief in the threat of divine judgment. God had said to Adam, “On the day you eat of it you will surely die,” and the devil flatly contradicted that in his conversation with Eve: “You surely will not die!” We see this same pattern today. The enemy’s first and primary argument for sin is you can sin and not suffer consequences. You will not be disciplined. Sadly, no other lie is more commonly believed than this one, even within the church.

Thankfully, as we continue onward in the book of Ezekiel, there is an alternative to wiping out Israel. And that was God’s plan to plant a good healthy vine from Jacob’s stock, a vine that would be the true Israel because it would bear the fruit that God intended when He established the vineyard of Israel. This vine—this true Israel—is the Lord Jesus Christ, and we are told in the New Testament that only as we abide in Him can we be fruitful (John 15:1–17).

In closing, I think it’s wise for us to take stock of our own faith in these last days. Without a doubt we are seeing the hand of God at work all around us. It is a firm hand. It has the feel of discipline and pruning for all our sins of oppression, favoritism, and pluralism. And yes, we need to wake up and realize that He is quite adept at using wicked people with their own agendas to bring about the kind of repentance that is needed in His people. We would be wise to stop critiquing the world’s unbelief (since this is all it knows) and be diligent in getting back to the basics of abiding in Christ. And that of course would be the work of bearing fruit, by faith, for the glory of His name, which is ultimately what will make this world a brighter and more beautiful place.