ETHICALLY SOURCED FRUIT

The fifteenth chapter of John’s gospel has always had extreme significance for me personally. I will never forget reading it and noticing what I had never noticed before – this is what I wrote about the experience back in 2006 –

“John 15:1-2 (ANIV)

"I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. [2] 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.

So he cuts off the dead, dry branches that aren’t bearing any fruit. In my desire for efficiency I’m well up for that. If some of the things I spend my time on are fruitless then I want rid of them too. Bring it on! But I practically spat out my “fruit ‘n’ fibre” as I, perhaps for the first time, grabbed the implication of the next bit. “every branch that does bear fruit he prunes” ! Other translations have phrases like “he cuts back”, or “he purgeth it”, or “he cleanseth it”. Hang on - I wasn’t so sure I liked the sound of that. The stuff that is actually being fruitful needs to be cut back? The stuff that’s going well? That sounds a bit painful! I just knew God was speaking to me. At that stage I wasn’t sure re the specifics (and the full picture is still emerging), but I knew that I had to go through a process where God would prune back many of the things I am involved with to enable the fruit to be of better quality.

As you’ve probably gathered over the years, there are quite a few things that I’ve turned my hand to. God has allowed me so many varied experiences and the privilege of interacting with so many different people in all walks of life. He has blessed many of these things with genuine fruitfulness, so it feels like the 10 or 12 tennis balls that I’m juggling are all getting bigger and bigger. This feels great, but inevitably a point is coming and has perhaps arrived when I need to drop some of the balls to be able to keep juggling perhaps 3 large basketballs. (pardon the dodgy analogy!)

Someone who prayed for me explained what they had seen recently on a trip to a vineyard in the South of France. They spoke of how the experts in the vineyard knew just which branches to remove from the vines when they were harvesting for cheap supermarket wine - £3 a bottle type stuff. They spoke of how it was really important to remove these to let the top quality grapes get as much nourishment as possible to produce best quality, long-lasting fruit. It feels as if I could easily deliver mass-produced, crowd-pleasing cheap stuff that would look good now, or I could allow some pruning to happen and aim for some vintage wine that may outlast me into future generations. Do you get what I’m saying? I think God does this with most of us at some point in our lives. Please hold me to it and please pray for wisdom and open ears in the process.”

So I feel as if I’ve been through that process, as I sit here in 2010. I’m not living in Luton, not doing so much music, and so much space has been created in my life. London has brought incredible learning and incredible opportunity, particularly in the political field. I’m not sure I’ve always used the space that God created for me well, but I’ve definitely been pruned!

Then I went to visit a wonderful church this Sunday morning, full of randomness and life. The speaker was speaking on John 15, and the combination of her words and God’s gentle poking of my head led to some potent truths being planted in me.

1 – the branch doesn’t produce fruit for its own benefit – it produces fruit for the benefit of others.
There are obvious implications for us. How much time do I spending praying that I will be fruitful? I often don’t stop to notice that as a branch I am called to bear fruit for the sake of those who will pick and eat it, not for me. Is that really my orientation?

2 – you can’t produce grapes from a blackberry bush – you can only produce grapes from a vine.
The bottom line is if it’s not on a vine, it’s not a grape. I can produce fruit that appears fresh and tasty, but hasn’t come from a place that is truly rooted in him. If fruit hasn’t come from my “abiding in Him”, then it’s not God-fruit. I think I’ve become quite good at producing the counterfeit, to the extent that I can fool most of the people, most of the time. I’ve been learning recently about “abiding”. Not from a book, but from being married. I feel as if I now know much more about the disciplines that are required for true “abiding”. The concept of sharing space and time with someone at times without immediate practical purpose is utterly counter-cultural. It perhaps explains why so many of us find it difficult to “Be still and know that I am God”. However I am now left in no doubt that my laziness in this regard has implications not only for me, but for all those around me, who will find only fake fruit, or old dry raisins when they come looking to eat. So many of us are now involved in different forms of practical service, and therefore need to hear this truth loud and clear.

3 – pruning may not be primarily for my benefit – only the gardener can see the big picture of the garden.

He is the only one who can see how my growth could impinge on someone elses – stealing their sunlight or nutrients. Sometimes our pruning may be to provide space for someone else to grow further, or to change the direction of our growth, so that we end up growing in the direction that makes the whole picture work, not just our little corner of the garden.

In summary, my understanding of John 15 was exploded outwards. I was forced to face my self-centred reading of the passage, and began to wonder - how many other chunks of scripture do we filter through our individualised, consumerist mindsets? As people living in the year 2010 it is almost inevitable that we will have to fight this subliminal programming. The original readers would have had fewer struggles in this regard.

These 3 thoughts combine with my original take on the passage to create a powerful challenge to those of us involved in politics. Perhaps take some time now to examine your own activity (or hyperactivity) in light of these thoughts. So many of us are running solo races when we are called to be running alongside each other, continually reminding our fellow runners why we are running. I don’t want to meet any more exhausted, stressed-out activists whose good fruit is drying up because they have lost connection with their roots. In so many ways, within CSM, it really is time we got back to our roots, if we want to be fruitful.

I pray that you will have a day that is fruitful. I pray your day is literally full of fruit, sourced from your deep roots in Him, and available for picking by anyone who is hungry and in need.

Andy Flannagan, CSM Director, 02/02/2010