Month: September 2018

The fifth hallmark of discipleship comes from an agricultural metaphor and shows that God is serious about fruitfulness.   In John 15 Jesus prepares the disciples and us for what living as His apprentices will be like on the resurrection side of the cross.  Using the metaphor of grape vines and branches, He explains that it is our responsibility to “abide” in Him in the same way a branch is connected to a vine.  It is not a suggestion, an elective, or something God does for us.  It is what disciples do.

But to what end?  The obvious answer is “fruit”.  But He wants more than just fruit.

Jesus continues the metaphor to explain the results of abiding.  First, fruit develops where no fruit previously existed.  The divine Gardner cleans up and prunes the branches so that fruitlessness turns to fruitfulness.

“He cuts off (a better translation – lifts/cleans up – onto the trellis) every branch of mine that doesn’t produce fruit, and He prunes the branches that do bear fruit so they will produce even more” (John 15:2 NLT).

No fruit …turns to fruit …which turns to more fruit…which turns to much fruit.

“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” (John 15:5 NLT).

But God wants even more than much fruit, He wants fruit that remains

“You didn’t choose Me. I chose you. I appointed you to go and produce lasting fruit” (John 15:16).

We can safely assume that God is pretty serious about fruit!  It is the fruit that glorifies the Father and proves our discipleship.

“My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples” (John 15:8).

This then leads us to consider what Jesus meant by “fruit”.  Organically fruit is the seed of the next generation.  It is the overflow of life.  Fruit in the New Testament is used in three ways:

1. Character

“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness gentleness and self-control” (Gal. 5:22) (See also Eph. 5:9).

2. Good works

“… so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit  in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Col. 1:10).

3. New converts to the Faith/kingdom expansion

“I do not want you to be unaware, brethren, that often I have planned to come to you (and have been prevented so far) so that I may obtain some fruit among you also, even as among the rest of the Gentiles” (Rom. 1:13 NASB).

Even though all three kinds of fruit are important and will result from abiding in Him, I would suggest that the context leans towards the #3 type of fruit:  new believers/disciples in Christ.  Later in the passage Jesus said:

“You did not choose Me but I chose you, and appointed you that you would go and bear fruit,” (John 15:16).

Notice that the statement “go and bear fruit” parallels the Great Commission in Matt 28:19, “Go and make disciples”.

Fruit contains the seeds of the next generation and bearing fruit has always been God’s plan.      In Genesis 1 God commands His image bearers to go and organically fill the earth with more people in His image (“be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and rule over it”).  In the Old Testament the Israelites were to reach future generations by teaching their children to teach their children (Isaiah 59:21).  Jesus expanded bearing fruit to include going into all the nations for the purpose of making disciples.

Spiritual fruitfulness is a hallmark of discipleship and a natural result of our abiding in Christ.  It results in good works, godly character, and kingdom expansion.

Here is a summary of the five hallmarks of an apprentice of Jesus:

• Comprehensive alignment ( Luke 6:40)
• Sacrificial allegiance (Luke 14:26)
• Faithful obedience (John8:31-32)
• Servant love (John 13:34-35)
• Spiritual fruitfulness (John 15:8)

These timeless traits characterize disciples of Christ down through history.  They are independent of personality or culture.  If we are serious about our own apprenticeship, we need to honestly assess our life in light of what Jesus said are the evidence of discipleship.  We also need to pray and coach others in these same traits teaching them to be apprentices of Jesus Christ.

Questions for reflection

1. How does the lens of fruitfulness change how we look at our daily lives?
2. The organic concept of fruitfulness involves seasons. What does “season” (They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season. Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do. Ps 1:3) add to our discussion of fruitfulness?

The fourth (4/5) hallmark of discipleship that Jesus claimed would characterize His apprentice, is servant love (John 13:34-35).  It is the one trait that gives evidence to the world that our apprenticeship is authentic.

“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.  (35)  Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples” (John 13:35-35 NLT).

Having announced His betrayal and identified his betrayer, Jesus turned His attention to the remaining disciples and said,

1. So now I am giving you a new commandment

At first this would seem incorrect because the command to love one another was of paramount importance in the Old Testament (Lev. 19:18).  In fact, when Jesus was asked to sum up the Old Testament law, He gave the well-known dual of loving God and loving others (Mark 12:29, 31).  So what makes it “new”?

The answer is not in the trait itself but in the model.  In the Old Testament the best model of how to love others was how people loved themselves.  We can relate all too well.  Serving self is in our DNA.  We are the center of our own affections and acts of kindness.  So to serve others the same way we serve ourselves is a good model.

But with the incarnation of God in Christ, we now have a better model of servant love – Jesus Christ.

If the new birth in Christ is intended to free us from the self-focus and narcissism of our fallen nature, it would make sense that we would need a different point of reference.

With our new commandment to love others as Jesus loves, it becomes less relevant how well we love ourselves.  “You can’t love others without first loving yourself” may be popular psychology, but it is not New Testament discipleship.

 In this explanation of servant love, Jesus is raising the bar just as He often did when giving His interpretation of the Old Testament precepts.  The command for us to love others as Christ loves requires both the power of His Holy Spirit and an accurate understanding of how Jesus loves.

“Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are His dear children.  Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered Himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God (Eph. 5:1-2 NLT).

Before Jesus gave the command to love in the same way He loves, He gave a practical example by   washing the feet of the disciples.  This job was normally reserved for the lowest servant of the household and apparently all the disciples thought it was beneath them to perform it.  This servant act by Jesus was done purposely to demonstrate His love for them and to prepare their hearts for the exhortations and discourse that followed.

Jesus used foot washing as a model of servant love and it had at least three different levels of meaning:

• Physical:  an act of kindness for the benefit of others.

This is the most obvious meaning and amazingly (in this context) it even included Judas who was only hours away from betraying Jesus.

• Emotional:  an expression of enduring love.

John introduces this act of kindness with the comment “Having loved His own, He loved them to the end” (John 13:1).  Jesus’ expression of servant love came out of His very nature as both a servant and lover.  Paul states that Jesus took on the form of a bond-servant (Phil. 2:5-11).  The word “form” implies His serving was an expression of His inner essence.

In contrast with love that needs to be placated, coerced and manipulated, our sovereign Lord expressed His nature as a servant who loves.  This love removes obstacles to relationships and communicates to another person that he/she is valuable, important and deeply appreciated.  Serving is one way to express enduring love.

• Spiritual:  an illustration of forgiveness and spiritual healing.

Perhaps out of feeling embarrassed, Peter resisted having Jesus wash his feet.  However, when Jesus told him the foot washing was an illustration of cleansing/forgiveness, he asked for a bath.  Jesus explained that he didn’t need a bath (justification, 1 Cor. 6:11) but he did need his feet washed (daily cleansing, I John 1:9).  Peter didn’t understand this until later when he realized that Jesus’ love and forgiveness transcended even his denial.

On this side of the cross, we can see how forgiveness is an expression of Christ’s self-sacrificing love.  We also recognize as His apprentices the need to demonstrate servant love by forgiving others (Matt. 6:12).  One way this can be done is by “forgiving forward”.  We decide before-hand to not be offended or attribute motives to the actions of others.  In other words, we will give up our right to be right and choose not to be offended.

“Love is patient and kind…it does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged…Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance” (1Cor. 13:4-7 NLT).

 The second observation is that Jesus not only gave the command to love as He loved, but, in fact, the world will judge the authenticity of our apprenticeship by our love rather than by our religious practices.

2. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are My disciples.

 All the traits or hallmarks of discipleship reflect the nature and character of Jesus as they were displayed during his earthly life.  Each trait is a thread woven throughout His earthly ministry.  Servanthood was one of the more obvious ones.  If you did a “man on the street” interview asking people to describe Jesus, the most common response would probably be, “He went around doing good for others.”

The early church demonstrated servant love within the family of faith by taking care of their widows (Acts 6).  Also Paul urged the newly established churches in Asia Minor to send aid to the family of faith in Jerusalem who were suffering from a famine (2 Cor. 9:1-5).  In both cases the aid was for those in need within the family of faith.

Demonstrating servant love begins at (but is not limited to) home and the family of faith.   Servant love at all three levels (physical, emotional, and spiritual) should be highly visible within and among God’s family.  When this is put into practice even those outside the faith will recognize it as a mark of being a disciple of Jesus.  In fact, Jesus gives the world permission to assess our discipleship based on how well we love one another.    I wonder if servant love was our public image, would there be more interest in the gospel?

Questions for reflection:

1. What are some additional reasons why Jesus changed the model for loving others from self to Himself?

 Why do you think the first focus for servant love was on the family of faith rather than on the world at large?