Title: MIND THE FRUIT OF DISCIPLESHIP

Focus: Disciples of Jesus seek to serve God wholeheartedly—with every fiber of their being—by producing fruit to the glory of God the Father.

Function: To emphasize that distinctive, biblically shaped Christian education is another one of God’s provisions for us to prepare productive disciples for Christ in today’s world.

Texts: Matthew 22:34-40; John 15:1-8

At a recent gathering at the South West Christian High School, I heard the principal—Mr. Dan Beckering—speak about the significance of Christian education. One of his points was that students are taught to think—that is, to think biblically. At that gathering, we also learned about the many different worldviews that our sons and daughters and all of us encounter—worldviews that run against the Word and will of God.

The entire presentation at the high school made me think—and realize again what a tremendous opportunity God has given the church today to help the next generation think and act biblically in society.

More recently, I read a summary of a presentation given by the superintendent of Calvin Christian School—Mr. Steve Groen. Many of you may have heard his presentation at our church a while ago. In the summary statement by Steve I noticed the mission of Calvin Christian School: “Working in dynamic partnership with the Christian home and church, Calvin Christian School equips students as disciples of Christ, by offering a quality education, fully integrated with a biblical knowledge of God and his world.”

What caught my attention in particular was the phrase: “equips students as disciples of Christ.” Just as Dan Beckering’s point about thinking biblically stuck with me, so this phrase from Steve Groen’s presentation about seeing students as disciples of Christ resonated with me. For you see, the Scripture readings for today emphasize that disciples of Jesus seek to serve God with all their heart, soul, and mind--by producing fruit to the glory of God.

Thus I want to emphasize that distinctive, biblically shaped Christian education is another one of God’s provisions for us to prepare productive disciples for Christ in today’s world. In short, mind the fruit of Christian discipleship!

Let’s consider the scripture passages for today. In Matthew 22:34-40 we notice that the Lord Jesus is being tested by an “expert in the law.” The scholar of God’s law wants to know the answer to the question: “Which is the greatest commandment in the Law.” That question was a subject of great debate among scholars of Jesus’ days because the O.T. scriptures (summarized as the Law) has over 700 commandments or prescriptions or divine ordinances and decrees. And so, Jesus “bumps’ into this expert of the Law who is eager to test and debate Jesus.

Jesus responds as a master teacher. He cuts through the arguments and nails his response saying: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.” You do not need to be a scholar with a Ph.D to get the point: we are to love and serve God with every fiber of our being: heart, soul, and mind.

Today people are very much in tune with feelings and emotions. Many live by their sentiments and feelings and do not value clear, hard, and discerning thinking. It seems that the mind plays second fiddle for many Christians as well. That’s a pity, for Jesus’ makes the point that emotions and sentiments must work in tandem with every brain cell we have to love and serve the Lord, our God. Thinking biblically, thinking God’s thoughts is just as important as emotional expressions or feelings of the heart and soul.

Now in John’s gospel we find the Lord Jesus making use of a metaphor or figure of speech. We learn that God the Father is the gardener; we learn that Jesus—God the Son—is the vine; and we note that disciples of Jesus make up the branches that must produce fruit. Grafted into the vine, you and I who follow Christ make up the plant in God’s garden. God the Father prunes and cares for the plants; he does so by grafting us into Jesus by the work of his Holy Spirit. And by being grafted into Jesus, the Spirit of God produces fruit within us and through us.

At least three things stand out in Jesus’ figure of speech. First of all, Jesus reminds us that God the Father is very keen on the production of fruit. Listen: “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. 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.” Clearly, God looks for fruit—more fruit, and more fruit. God the Father is in the fruit production business. Therefore, we must mind the fruit of discipleship.

Elsewhere in Scripture, we learn that God’s Spirit is eager to produce such fruit as (Gal. 5:22) “love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” This kind of fruit deals primarily with the development of our conduct, with our heart and emotions or feelings. But there is also a call to serve God with the fruit of our mind or thinking: (Rom. 12:1,2) “…I urge you…in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

In short, God the Father seeks from all of us much fruit.

Secondly, Jesus points out the how? of fruit bearing. In order for us to produce fruit there must be the fulfillment of a condition: we must remain in Jesus. The reason is simple: Jesus is the head of the branches, the church that makes up the plant; Jesus is the vine through which the “sap” or life-giving juices or water of the Holy Spirit comes to us and produce fruit. Apart from Jesus, we cannot produce fruit.

To remain in Jesus means that through faith we anchor our lives in him and in his Word. Jesus and his Word (God’s Word) go together. By staying connected with Christ and his instructions and gospel promises, we become productive branches. Listen: “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.” How do we bear fruit? By remaining in Jesus and He and his Word in us.

Thirdly, Jesus makes clear the why? of fruit bearing. It comes down to the following: healthy plant life calls for fruit bearing. Branches that do not bear fruit are dead in the eyes of God the Father. And as gardener, God cuts off such dead branches and destroys them. Such branches are of no use to the gardener. All other branches God prunes—cuts back or shapes in such a way that there will be an increase in fruit production.

Ultimately, God keeps the garden and seeks the production of fruit for his own glory. Our fruit production brings praise and honor and recognition or glory to God the Father. So Jesus concludes in vs. 8 saying “This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” We live and have our being to the glory of God; service and love for God calls for every fiber of our being—heart, soul, and mind—so that we bear more and more fruit.

As I apply Jesus’ teaching on fruit bearing for his followers in the context of education, I will say it once more: distinctive, biblically-shaped Christian education is another one of God’s provisions for us to prepare productive disciples for Christ in today’s world. Mind the fruit of discipleship!

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Christian parents receive their children as gifts from God. They need to be shaped and formed with the mind of Christ, by way of Scripture teachings, prayer public worship, and daily Christian living. Raising the next generation is a project of love, patience, sacrifice and, yes, also much joy. Thank God for children and teenagers!

Forming the mind of Christ takes place at your home, at our churches, and also in the “school of hard knocks”—in our world and society where life experiences and life choices teach us sometimes the hard way.

Forming the next generation with the mind of Christ also takes place in two other schools: the government supported schools and privately supported schools, such as, for example, Christian schools.

Such a variety of schoolings or education means that parents and students have choices to make when it comes to their future and their effectiveness as Christians in society. And since disciples of Jesus seek to produce fruit and serve God—heart, soul, and mind—I would emphasize that distinctive, biblically shaped Christian education is another one of God’s provisions for us to prepare productive disciples for Christ in today’s world.

For more than 150 years, the Christian Reformed Church has been on the forefront of Christian education in North America. We are a rather small denomination, but God has gifted us with a powerful vision to spread Christ’s rule in all areas of life by emphasizing and supporting distinctive, Christian education.

Regularly, I meet with doctoral students from all over North America and the world and from all kinds of Christian backgrounds and traditions. When I talk with them about the need for Christian education as a form of missions and as a way of shaping disciples for Christ, their eyes lit up, and they want to hear more. And they begin to see the vision for Christian education.

But how will they catch and promote the vision in North America, if we don’t show them by example our support and impulse for Christian schools? That’s why I emphasize Christian education as God’s provision to prepare productive disciples for Christ.

I want to affirm all students today, especially those who attend government-supported schools. I salute you and pray that you will never forget who you are: you are a child of God. As you interact and listen to your peers, I pray that you will have good friends, who support you and help you to be the kind of person Jesus wants you to be. And as you participate in learning from your teachers, I encourage you to apply yourself and test all learning in light of the Bible. You are a child of God. And you can make a difference at school and in society. You can shine for Jesus, now and later as well.

I also hope and pray that you will have parents who guide you in your learning, who help you sort out the questions of faith in the context of a secular curriculum. For here is where your teachers cannot help you. They may not do so in light of the law of the land. So, apply yourself and seek to serve God as a fruit-bearing disciple of Jesus.

The same affirmation goes for those of you who attend Christian schools. I salute you, too! For you have the additional freedom and the privilege to encounter distinctive, Christian teachings that guide you in making discerning choices and decisions later in life. Remember that you are not better than everyone else. All children and students who love Jesus belong to him and are precious in his sight.

Here is my challenge for all adults and parents, especially those of you who think of government-supported schools as a potential “mission field” for your children to enter as evangelists or missionaries. Over the years, I have had conversations with godly parents whose sole reason for sending their children to government-supported schools was to expose their children to “the real world” where they can be “a shining light for Jesus.”

Here’s my response: All schools are training grounds for young minds to be shaped and equipped for service in the future. To suggest that our children, at a young age, can counter the philosophies and worldviews from secular textbooks and hand-tied teachers, who may not speak Christian truth into their subject matter, is debatable and, I think, a bit far-fetched.

At that stage in life, the minds of our children function more like a sponge soaking up and embracing knowledge. Mature discernment and reflection comes much later in life to them. But the foundations of thoughts and ideas and the prism through which to view all of life come to them in their younger years. What will shape their minds?

Furthermore, as Christians we do not believe that the so-called “real world out there” has no place for God. The real world—as taught in scripture—is governed by God and his will; there is no room for ideologies and philosophies and ethics and secular practices in the real world that God seeks to establish. The real world is the world that Christians are to advance by way of bearing fruit, by way of living and speaking the mind of Christ. That’s the mission of Christians everywhere.

To do that kind of evangelism or mission work, God has provided us today with Christian schools. That’s why I say: Mind the fruit of discipleship and support and advance Christian education as one tremendous opportunity for the next generation to make a difference in the world.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.