“Friends, Jesus is inviting us into partnership in bearing fruit. This is not a burden to bear, but a joyful opportunity to participate in.”
"Kyle, are you abiding in the truth?" I never knew quite how to answer that question, though I loved that my professor would ask. I had the privilege of learning from Dr. Paul Anderson while attending George Fox University in Newberg, Oregon. Still teaching at George Fox, Paul is a brilliant professor and teacher known the world over for his scholarship on the book of John. I didn't take his question lightly, and the passage from which it comes, John 15, became a passage of scripture I deeply love.
At first, I didn't understand how to gauge my level of "abiding." In John 15, likely while walking with his disciples toward the garden of Gethsemane before his arrest and execution, Jesus takes a moment to tell his closest friends to "remain" or "abide" with him. Jesus had just said to his disciples at dinner that he was leaving. He also told them that one would betray him and another would deny him in the next few hours. Things were changing quickly, and it was necessary to say to his friends this critical message, "remain," or "abide."
The admonition to remain wasn't the entirety of his message. Jesus, as he usually does, had a bit more to say, and I'm so thankful he did. "Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father" (John 15:5–8 NLT).
Do you see the outcome for those who remain? Fruitfulness. This is especially true when we stay connected through times of difficulty or crisis. In a well-written article on this passage (linked below), Supt. Michael Forney writes,
"Friends, Jesus is inviting us into partnership in bearing fruit. This is not a burden to bear, but a joyful opportunity to participate in. Everywhere in history where the church has captured the heart of God in this, the result has been spectacular! God always does more through our faith and obedience than we can think to ask or imagine. He gets the glory, and the kingdom expands in glorious redemptive movement."
Looking back (I like to be reflective), I wish I'd been more aware of my fruitfulness in those college days. Having done so, maybe I could have answered Paul's question with more authenticity. Did my life reflect a regular dependence on God and a faithfulness to his way of life? Did I regularly embody the characteristics of the ‘fruit’ described in Galatians 5:22-23, which says, "the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!"? Did my life look like that? Even, and especially, in difficult days. I think the honest answer is yes AND no.
I hear Jesus' admonition to remain, and I want too with all my heart. I recognize that fruitfulness as an outcome of that abiding means ongoing connection and partnership with the person of Jesus no matter what. So I'll continue asking myself the question I heard hundreds of times from my professor all those years ago, "Kyle, are you abiding in the truth?" I know better now how to answer that question, and how to live it out. How about you?