John 15:1,2 - Pruning: Painful Process to Perfection

Last night, at our small group, we were reading John chapter 15, which opens with this set of verses (1 &2),

“I am the true vine, and 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."

The key to understanding this fully is in understanding how growing fruit works from a gardening sense. At the time, Jesus was talking to people who were familiar with agriculture and this illustration would have been meaningful to them.

Consider a fruit vine. There is the long vine that connects the roots to the branches.  When the person who cares for the vine inspects it, they are looking at the health of the branches. If a branch is dead or dying and bears no fruit, they remove it completely so that it is not draining the resources of the vine as a whole and taking away energy and food that the other branches could use to create fruit. Now if the branch is living, it is pruned back closer to the vine. This again reduces the energy needed to keep the branch alive so that all that energy can go into producing fruit. 

Now if you  consider that is a people sense. Jesus is the vine and we are the branches.  Jesus is saying that energy will not be wasted on those who do not bear fruit, but for those that do, they will be pruned so that they may bear more (sweeter and better) fruit. If you think about it, the process is not painless,  because pruning is involved for this to happen. As good as we are, and as good as the fruit is that we are producing in the world and people around us, we will be pruned. God is removing the parts of us that drain our resources and ability to bear good fruit: pride that holds us back from fully embracing another in love, anger that is used in the wrong way, stubbornness that prevents us from saying or doing what could turn a situation around. God is working to remove those from our character, and bring us closer to the person we were created to be.

As we were discussing this idea, I had to hijack my own lesson to share a video created by the Skit Guy called God's Chisel. This humorous and moving skit talks about the idea of God shaping us to improve us, but also reminds us that God does not create junk. We are worthy of God's time and effort to mold us into the persons we are created to be.
  
As you consider all of this, remember that being shaped and molded sometimes is painful, but the end result is better. Perhaps God is working on you in a way that feels painful and you wish you wouldn't have to suffer in the process. Think about the end result and how much better it will be. God promised that life with God would be better...not easy.

How is God pruning you today? Are you resisting or are you letting God take away the things that hold you back? 

P.S. I just couldn't resist the alliteration in the title...no apologies :-)
 

Matthew 7 - There's a lot Underneath the Surface that We Don't Know About

Last Saturday, a friend shared a story with me about her daughter's first dentist appointment. When the dentist office said they were going to take x-rays, she was a little worried about how that was going to work, but it worked out fine and she was explaining the awe of seeing adult teeth sitting underneath her daughter's baby teeth and all I could think was, there is a lot under the surface that we can't see.

I have been running that idea through my head this week as I think about people and things I see. I was drawn to a couple of ideas in Matthew 7. The first is the idea of not judging others which Jesus talks about in verses 1-5 of the chapter:

“Judge not, that you be not judged. ² For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. ³ And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? ⁴ Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? ⁵ Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.

As I thought about this, I was reminded of those teeth, sitting under the surface, that we can't see, and I think about people I know, with many things sitting under the surface too that I don't know about. Are they good? Are they bad? Is it mine to determine? 

I think the truth is that it is complicated. These verses remind me that I, too, can be judged and I know that I am not perfect. There are plenty of labels that I wear, that people could hear or learn and paint their own picture of who I am. They could also witness one soundbite  and determine my character. Would they be accurate? They could be, but probably not. There is a lot going on under my surface, in my mind and my heart. 

Let's look at two labels I wear, Christian and gay. Part of me doesn't know where to start with what ideas and images people might have of me given these two labels alone. These labels evoke many ideas and emotion in our current society, but here a few negative ideas or thoughts I have heard and run across:

• You can't be Christian and gay
• Gay...flouncing fairy
• Christian...judgmental holy roller

The interesting thing about these is that they just don't fit. First of all being gay is your sexual identity and being Christian is your set of beliefs. They can easily exist in the same person. Christian beliefs guide my actions as a man everyday. And I am pretty sure that people who know me would not say I am a flouncing fairy or a judgmental holy roller. 

Instead, most people would say that I am pretty normal, although possibly quirky, with geeky tendencies. Also, people have remarked on how open to hearing and understanding others I am. I don't believe we have to agree to love and care for each other, but I do believe in respect and understanding. And there is a lot under the surface that you don't know about. God has me on a journey and even I don't know where it ends up or all the ways I will be shaped along the journey.

Matthew 7:1,2 is often associated with the idea of walking a mile in another person's shoes. I agree with that. I don't think you can truly understand the place a person is coming from without dialogue with them and you can't appreciate where their ideas come from without taking time. If a person is a part of your life, it is important to understand who that person is. Labels, which we use as a quick way to understand people are not really effective because there is a lot going on under the surface that we don't know about. 

But where does that leave us? I think the answer to that is to see what fruit the person bears.

¹⁷ Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Therefore by their fruits you will know them.

Take the time to walk a mile in a person's shoes and observe the fruit of their life; following both of these ideas will help you evaluate a person and your response to them. 

It makes sense to us to do this for the people who are family, friends, co-workers...people who are engaged in our lives, but that is not where it ends. In this season, where we in the US are preparing to elect a president and soundbites and labels abound. Will you determine a person's worth based on soundbites and labels or will you walk a mile in their shoes and examine the fruit of their life?

There is a lot under the surface that we don't know about.