Christian Leadership Foundations 4 - CropSample

KEYS TO A GOOD CROP 1: REMAIN CLOSE TO JESUS

Leadership Devotion

In this passage, Jesus uses the picture of a grapevine to explain the disciples’ life and leadership. Like the branches that can only bear grapes if connected to the vine, we can only produce fruit (or crop) if we trust and rely on Jesus. The vine’s life comes from Jesus (the vine), but we (the branches) get to bear the fruit. Our role is to remain close to Jesus, and then we will inevitably bear “much fruit” (15:8).

That makes sense. The better the vine’s life flows through the branches, the greater the crop. If the vine is fine, but no grapes grow, there is something wrong with the branches. Somehow the life of the vine is not getting through.

I’ve never tried to grow grapes, but I know what Jesus is talking about. At one stage, I grew a magnificent hedge in my front yard. It was green and thick and luscious. I kept it trimmed beautifully. People would admire it as they walked past. I was very proud of my hedge. I’m not much of a gardener, so this was a surprising achievement.

But then whole bunches of leaves started dying. I didn’t understand. Other parts of the same bush were growing magnificently. It didn’t make sense. One day I noticed a small hole in the bottom of a dying branch. When I cut it off, I found grubs had bored into this life-giving branch and hollowed it out. The grubs had cut off the supply of life from the roots. Without these nutrients flowing through the branches, the leaves could not survive. Like Jesus’ branches or my hedge’s branches, you won’t produce a crop if you don’t stay closely connected to Jesus.

In Acts 1:8, Jesus speaks of this life flowing from the Holy Spirit is us. We have the Spirit’s life, which means we will have an effective and powerful ministry for God if we let the Spirit do his work. The incredible life of the Spirit will flow through us to produce a wonderful crop. But if the Spirit gets blocked, then the crop will suffer.

So if we want to bear a good crop, our role is to remain in Jesus (15:5) or walk by the Spirit (Gal. 5:16) or keep in step with the Spirit (Gal. 5:25). I have called this “remaining close to Jesus.” It involves connecting deeply with Jesus through his Spirit within us so that Jesus’ life flows freely through us to those we influence.

We need to do other things to produce a crop, but tapping into Jesus is where it starts. The people you lead will have access to the life of God through you. Nothing is more powerful than abandoning yourself to Jesus and seeing his life flow through you. Jesus promised the good soil would produce a crop up to 100 times what was sown (Matt. 13:8). That’s some crop. And it all starts with remaining in the vine (Jesus).

During the revival in the Solomon Islands, the Islanders used to sing this simple prayer:

Flow through me, flow through me
I need you, sweet Spirit, to flow through me
Like a river that runs from the mountains to the sea
I need you, sweet Spirit, to flow through me

To Contemplate

Is there anything stopping the life of Jesus flowing through you? What will you do this week to “remain in the vine”? How would you like to see the life of Jesus flow through you?

Leadership Reflection

Remaining in the vine or keeping in step with the Spirit is a lifelong journey. That “grub” is constantly looking for a weakness in the branch that will enable it to bore into us to cut us off from Jesus and stop the flow of the life of Jesus through us. We are particularly prone when we face discouragement (seeming leadership failure), or we see some crop (leadership success).

We do many things to remain in Jesus, to connect more strongly to the vine. Here are a few I have gleaned from the John 15 passage we are studying today.

1. Pray continually about your ministry. In John 15, there is a strong connection between remaining in Christ and prayer. Jesus says, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). As we stay close to Jesus and talk with him about all we are doing, we hear his voice, follow his will, and consequently, we see God work in greater power through us.

2. Know and trust God’s word. As we study and believe God’s word, God’s words fill us. As Jesus describes it, “my words remain in you” (John 15:7). The more our life and ministry revolve around God’s truth, the greater the crop that will flow from him.

3. Obey God. It’s not just a matter of knowing God’s truth but living it out in obedience. In this passage, Jesus puts a strong emphasis on obedience. He says, “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love” (John 15:10). The more we do what God asks, the more we remain close to Jesus, and consequently, the more his life flows through us.

4. Allow God’s pruning. The above three principles are quite obvious, but the idea of pruning seems to have little relationship to remaining in Christ. Jesus makes it clear that pruning is involved in producing a crop. He says, “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” (John 15:2). Pruning has never made sense to me. It always feels weird cutting back a plant so it will grow more, but I know it works.

Our crop won’t usually come quickly or easily with all our prayers answered straight away and continual growth in our influence. There will be periods of God taking away our blessing and fruit to shape us and prepare for future growth. This makes us more dependent on him and is a necessary part of the eventual production of a great crop.

Part of our role in producing a good crop is remaining close to Jesus. This involves trusting and depending on him as we pray continually, hear his truth, live his way, and allow him to shape us using his methods, including pruning. The result is a huge crop.