Abiding – it’s such a beautiful concept, such a powerful metaphor.
“Abide in me,” John 15:4.
Drawing from the metaphor of the vine and the branches, abiding is staying connected. As long as the branch is connected to the vine, the life of the vine flows through the branch, producing fruit.
In the gospel of John, abiding is the way of life for the follower of Jesus. It is the secret to the life of those who follower Jesus. “”Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me” (John 15:4).
Abiding produces fruit, much fruit (John 15:5). Abiding enriches our experience of prayer and releases its power in our lives (John 15:7). Abiding empowers us to live the ways of God Jesus taught so that our lives are patterned after and reflect the life of Jesus (John 15:10). Abiding produces the joy of Christ in our lives (John 15:11). Abiding leads us to love as Jesus loved … to love one another with the self-giving, self-sacrificing love of God (John 15:12-13).
Abiding – it’s such a beautiful concept, such a powerful metaphor … and a constant challenge.
Abiding is staying connected to Christ. It is staying attuned to the Spirit and the Spirit’s guidance in the depths of our being. Yet it is so easy to get distracted … to get consumed with responsibilities, tasks, schedule, busyness … to constantly be on-the-go.
An underlying assumption of our Western culture undercuts this abiding in Christ. This assumption unconsciously drives us and shapes the spirit with which we live. The assumption is that productivity is the measure of our worth and value.
Productivity is one of the top values in our Western culture. It is foundational to our culture. Productivity calls for of self-effort and self-reliance coupled with determination, commitment, discipline, focus, and perseverance. Our success in being productive demonstrates our worth and value. Our society rewards our productivity with wealth and status. As a result, the amount of our wealth becomes another indicator of our worth and value. A natural byproduct of our focus on productivity is how we look down on people who do not work, viewing them as lazy grafters who are out to take what is rightfully ours. (Think those “on welfare.”) Yet another byproduct surfaces as we get older. Retirement and aging create identity crises as our work — the means by which we produced — is taken from us. In a productivity-oriented culture, busyness becomes a mark of importance. “Staying busy” becomes a badge we wear to prop up our sense of importance.
Busyness is a barrier to abiding. Abiding, not busyness, bears fruit in the life of the Christ-follower.
Fruit is different from productivity. Whereas productivity is the result of self-effort and self-reliance coupled with determination, commitment, discipline, focus, and perseverance, fruit is the natural product of the life of Christ flowing through us. This Spirit-produced life of Christ is expressed through our gifts and passions. While the fruit-bearing process involves commitment, discipline, focus, and perseverance, it is not the result of self-effort or self-reliance. It is the result of the Spirit’s work in us and through us. In other words, bearing fruit cannot be forced. The commitment, discipline, focus, and perseverance in the life of the Christ-follower is upon abiding. The focus is on the relationship that produces the fruit, not the fruit itself. As we stay connected, the life of Christ naturally flows through us, producing fruit.
Our busyness with its subtle self-importance blocks our ability to stay connected with Christ. While our busyness may make us productive — or at least, have the appearance of being productive — it does not make us fruitful. In fact, it keeps us from being fruitful. Bearing fruit comes through staying connected with Christ — abiding.
Abiding – it’s such a beautiful concept, such a powerful metaphor … and such a constant challenge to our “staying busy” thinking and living.
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