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Sometimes churches are filled with sincere people who are genuinely trying to live holy lives and remain available for whatever God calls them to do. But still the church remains unfruitful. How does this happen? God’s Word often employs an agricultural analogy. According to that analogy there are several components in the process of bearing fruit: preparing good soil, sowing seed, watering and cultivating the early growth, and harvesting the crop. To be a successful farmer you have to understand these stages. Spiritual agriculture operates according to the same laws, but it takes spiritual vision to recognize those stages. Jesus had that ability. He could recognize where faith was present and where it wasn’t. He knew when it was time to proceed publicly or retreat privately. He discerned when a person’s heart was prepared for the Truth and when it was still hard. Here again, it was His communion with the Father that resulted in that ability. After one episode when Jesus singled out just one disabled man for healing in the midst a multitude of others, Jesus explained that He “can only do what He sees His Father doing” (John 5:19). Too often pastors and churches engage in ministry programs based on classic patterns, common sense or current trends. They read books about what successful churches are doing and follow their lead. The leadership of the church jumps from one new effort to the next, often with several undersupported and understaffed ministries going on at the same time. They are not seeking where the Father is already at work and focusing their energy in those areas only. Church life tends to become overcrowded with activities, unfocused and eventually discouraging to pastor and people alike. True spiritual leadership is needed. The appetite for “producing fruit” must be restrained. The energies of the church must be harnessed to a clear vision of what the Father has already set in motion. This will only happen when the leaders refuse to take any course of action that God has not authored. But how will they see unless they are in close communion with the Father just like Jesus was? |
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