“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:5 · ESV
Ask most Christians how they are doing spiritually, and you will usually hear a report on activity. I have been in the Word. I have missed some mornings. I need to pray more. Activity matters. But it is a poor place to begin, because it quietly makes what we do the measure of who we are.
Jesus begins somewhere else. “I am the vine; you are the branches.” He does not command the branches to produce fruit. He tells them where they are. A branch joined to the vine bears fruit because the life of the vine runs through it. Cut off, it can do nothing. Jesus expects real fruit, and much of it. But fruit is the result of union, not the price of it.
Paul writes the same way. In Ephesians he spends three chapters telling believers who they are in Christ. They were chosen in him before the foundation of the world. They have forgiveness through his blood. They were made alive together with Christ and brought near to God. Only then does Paul turn to the commands: “walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called.” The calling comes first. The walk follows from it. To the Galatians he puts it in one line: “It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Obedience is what the life of Christ looks like in a person who belongs to him.
This matters for the disciplemaker, because discipling relationships drift toward activity. Did you read this week? Did you keep your commitment? Those are good questions, and a faithful Paul asks them. But if they are the only questions, your Timothy will conclude that his standing with God rises and falls with his weekly report. Some men will grow proud when the report is good. Others will grow tired and quietly stop showing up.
So begin where Scripture begins. Before you ask what he did, remind him who he is. When he fails, do not only hand him a better plan. Take him back to the vine. If he is in Christ, he is forgiven and accepted, and that does not change on a bad week. A man who knows he is loved will usually obey with more joy and less fear than a man trying to earn what he already has.
The same is true for you. Disciplemakers can tie their worth to fruit they can count, such as the number of men they meet with or the number who finish the study. That fruit is a gift, and it is good to give thanks for it. But it is not the vine. Abide first. The fruit is his to give.
This Week
Before you ask your Timothy what he did this week, what will you remind him is true of him in Christ?
Go Deeper
Union with Christ: The Way to Know and Enjoy God
Rankin Wilbourne (David C Cook). A warm, readable book on what it means to be “in Christ” and why it sits at the center of the Christian life.
Abide in Christ
Andrew Murray (free to read at Bible Study Tools). A devotional classic on John 15, read across many traditions for more than a century. Its short daily chapters work well read alongside a Timothy.
Known by God: A Biblical Theology of Personal Identity
Brian S. Rosner (Zondervan). A thoughtful look at how Scripture grounds our identity in being known by God and being in Christ, rather than in what we achieve.
Next week: the fear of God in a casual age — reverence as a mark of maturity.
Lee Truax
President, DiscipleMaking Mission
