A Word from Your Mission Strategist, Steve Laughman
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit.” – Jesus of Nazareth (John 15:1-2)
Jesus spoke these words to the apostles on the night He was betrayed and arrested. It appears He is referring to individuals, how we are to remain in Him in order to bear fruit for the kingdom. While this is absolutely true for each individual Christian, I believe we can apply the same principles to each local body of believers.
Pruning is no fun for the branch. It seems painful, harsh, and sudden. What seemed to be growth has now suddenly been taken away for the sake of the entire branch. Frankly, it seems a little counterproductive. Why would you cut away growth and expect it to help the branch? Yet that is God’s design for the vine and, evidently, for us as well.
It has now been one year since the pandemic began. Life has changed dramatically for us as individuals and for us as the church. Although things might be different now, I also believe God has used this year to prune us. He has taken away things, and in their place, we have found the resources to do something more productive. He has refocused our attention on priorities that may have been lost in the busyness of life. He has reminded us that our time on earth is limited and therefore valuable. He has expanded our vision and given us a hunger to do more than we ever did before.
If your goal is just to get back to the way we did church before, then I challenge you to rethink why we had to go through the struggles of this past year. Much of what we did before is worth doing again, but other things were pruned away for a reason. Take time to evaluate the health of your church body and to prioritize those things that matter most. I think you may find that God has made it possible for you to grow in ways you never thought of before.
