FRUITFULNESS PART 2

In my last blog post, I looked at Jesus’ main metaphor for Christian life: fruitfulness. “By their fruits you shall know them,” Jesus said. Faith is not just an interior feeling, it’s meant to be outwardly effective, productive and fruitful.

But as with many biblical words, including “love,” “grace,” “righteousness,” it’s not immediately obvious what fruitfulness means. It’s a full, rich image with many different facets and layers. I’d like to explore some of those briefly.

Change
“Bear fruit worthy of repentance,” John the Baptist preached (Matthew 3:8.) Repentance means a change of mind and direction. We can’t be fruitful if we’re simply content to simply stay as we are now. We can’t rely on a sense of entitlement (“Do not say, ‘We have Abraham as our father’”) No matter how long we've been in the church, we will be judged by the righteousness and mercy of our lives – and John goes on to give some very concrete, practical examples of what he means (Luke 3: 10-14.) If our attitude is “I’m fine just the way I am,” we won’t be fruitful.

Inner and Outer in Synch
Jesus never opposed inward faith and outward action.  “Every good tree bears good fruit, every bad tree bears bad fruit.” (Matthew 7:17) It’s not a question of either prayer or action, but of how our inner and outer lives are connected. St. Paul wrote about “lead[ing] lives worthy of the Lord … as you bear fruit in every good work and as you grow in the knowledge of God.” (Colossians 1:10) Cultivating an inner life of prayer, worship, reflection and knowledge of God is what will increase fruitful, faithful action in the world.

Pruning
Every gardener knows that plants won’t be fruitful if they’re not cut back. If you don’t prune a vine or tree, all the nutrients will go into the leaves and branches rather than the pumpkins or apples. Not all growth is good. It needs to be fruitful growth. So it’s just as important to decide what we will not do as what we will do.

Surrender
“Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies,” Jesus said, “it remains just a single seed, but if it dies it bears much fruit.” (John 12:24) We gain life by willing to lose life. That’s the paradox of the Gospel. When we close our hands and hearts to protect what we have, 

we end up losing it; but when we open our hands and hearts in faith, abundance is the result. In these anxious times, our instinct is to protect what we have so we don’t lose it. But Jesus calls us to let go of what we have for the sake of something more fruitful.

Openness to Mystery
Fruitfulness is a gift, not an achievement. We can cultivate the conditions that make fruitfulness possible. But in the end, the fruit we bear is a result of grace. We are the soil in which the seeds of the Word can be planted and grow (Mark 4: 3-9). We need to pay attention to the kind of soil we are, and trust that God will bring about God’s kind of growth through us. So our job is to prepare the ground, and to remove the barriers so we can be good, receptive soil, and then watch in anticipation for the fruit that God will bring through us.

A Continual Process not a Quick Fix
We’re conditioned to look for immediate results. What book can we read, what workshop can we attend, what program can we adopt to increase givings, boost attendance, get the young people back? But fruitfulness comes from long, patient, faithful cultivation over time. When we’re desperate, we want a quick fix.  “Let’s do something, and do it fast!” But in these anxious times, we need to do the opposite. Our focus should be on cultivating hearts and communities that will be able to bear fruit in the future.

If this triggers something in you – an insight, thought or memory – please share it.