Aug 28th, 2020: Bearing Fruit

 

Our raspberry bushes are not doing well this year. They looked so promising in the early summer. Anyhow they slowed down at the beginning of August. Maybe the three hailstorms we had in July. It could the roots were damaged last year when we fixed the fence. It does not look like we have a corp this year. I am not that well versed in the art of gardening, so I won't venture into explaining why. My wife told me that it could well be the variety of berry, and they only last a few seasons. The only thing I know is that there are a lot of similarities between that and how our churches are doing spiritually.

Sometimes we see a much promising beginning of a church. There seems to be life and power to push forward and to make a difference. As it grows, we gradually discover the growth is not outwardly but inwardly. It turns inward so much that it chokes itself to death. When that happens, church members tend to be critical of one another. They start finding the faults of others instead of finding opportunities to serve each other. The church begins to be divided, and there is no more oneness in that body.

We have witnessed churches that fail to seek regular and ongoing renewal. Churches sometimes get stuck in a tradition that does not help them to embrace and to acknowledge God's continuing revelations to His people. We don't have a message that resonates with people who are searching. Faith now becomes religiosity. We create our own language that alienates others. We establish our own subculture that forms our isolation from others. We start contracting instead of growing. Very soon, we then realize that people begin to use "past tense" to refer to the church.

We might have also realized now that we have lost the opportunity to have a meaningful voice in our culture. We trap ourselves in the journey of trying to associate with the powers that be. We struggle with God in our understanding of what it means to be the least of these. The real battle is no longer an external one; it is now our internal struggle we have with God. There is no fruit. Our spirit withers and our heart is in trouble because it can no longer identify with God's heart.

If no berry shows up by the end of August, I know what I need to do in a few weeks with my raspberry bushes. Cut them down and put them in the compost bin. What would God do with churches that are no longer bearing fruit? That is our solemn reality.

Matthew 7: 17-20
"So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits."