Grow Fruit Part 4: Reproduction Fruit
Reproduction fruit is all about making disciples. Discipleship is caught, not taught. Skip the classes and seminars and simply demonstrate what Jesus has already taught you.
Grow Fruit Part 4: Reproduction Fruit
Jesus said:
John 15:5 (NLT) & John 15:5 (MSG)
“Yes, I am
the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will
produce much fruit.” “When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation
intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant.”
A disciple of Jesus is to produce fruit. This
fruit grows abundantly as we keep in step with the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-26).
Recall what it means to love one’s self. To love one’s self is to partner with
the Holy Spirit to bring about the Father’s will for your life. The Spirit
grows internal fruit, the virtues of Christlikeness within. As internal fruit
is grown our lives become characterized by love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control resulting in our
possession of the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5-11).
Because we are being transformed into the very
image of Jesus, the Spirit empowers us to grow external fruit. The scripture
speaks of supernatural gifts bestowed upon believers to encourage the faith in
people (1 Corinthians 12:7), supernatural abilities for the common good. We
also have acquired certain abilities through natural means. When you use of
gifts and abilities to bless others, we are producing fruit. External fruit is
the result of your good works.
Last time we explored Proclamation Fruit. Followers
of Jesus are expected to sow the good news of the gospel. The gospel is the
seed in Jesus parable of the Sower. (Luke 8:5-15). A Christian is expected to
develop a voice for speaking the truth in love, the gospel, to all the anyone’s
they come in contact with. When the seed takes root, and an anyone is born
again into the family of God, that’s proclamation fruit.
Today we will consider Reproduction fruit. As you
grow deep in your knowledge and experience of God, as you grow up maturing in
your faith, you are also expected to reproduce. When I teach on the Normative
Christian Experience, the general path of spiritual development, I tell my
students that there are 3 identifiable stages of development after a person,
who have acknowledged their sin predicament, believed that Jesus made
reconciliation to God the Father for their sins, in gratitude, committed themselves
to be a disciple of Jesus and finally asking the Father to accept their faith.
Once we are born again the 3 stages are characterized as a Child-like Faith, an
Adolescent like faith, and an Adult like faith. There is a more detailed
explanation of this on our website www.hbcc.life
under the articles tab. In Articles on the hbcc.life website look for Normative
Christian Experience Map 1, 2, and 3. There is a stick figure representation
and then an explanation of the map below.
As in life, a characteristic of an adult is their
ability to reproduce, to protect, provide, teach and impart to little ones
their wisdom.
Proverbs 22:6 (NIV)
Start children off on the way they should go, and
even when they are old they will not turn from it.
Reproduction fruit is grown when you disciple
another believer. To disciple someone is to show them the ropes of the
Christian life. That person who has a child-like faith needs to become familiar
with their new faith. That person who has an adolescent like faith needs to be
encouraged during this time of inner struggle. Oddly enough regardless of the
stage of your spiritual development, anyone can disciple another person simply
by sharing what they have come to know about how to live the Christian life.
But especially those who are experiencing an adult-like faith—you are expected
to disciple other believers.
Jesus gave every one of His followers, those who
have asked God to save them on His account, to make disciples.
Matt 28:18-20 (MSG & NIV)
“All authority in heaven and on earth has been
given to me….” “God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and
train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life…” “…go and make
disciples…” marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you.” …
teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you…”
When you are doing what Jesus has told you to
do—the result will be Reproduction Fruit. If you are a Christian, you are
expected to produce Reproduction fruit by teaching others the very things that
Jesus has taught you.
Pastor Tyler Edwards made a great observation in
an article he wrote for Relevant Magazine: Tyler writes:
Many
people come to Jesus thinking it is enough to believe, to stand on the
sidelines and root for Him. Jesus isn’t looking for cheerleaders. He is seeking
men and women who will follow Him whatever the cost. He is looking for radical
devotion, unreasonable commitment, and undivided dedication.
Jesus isn’t looking for
converts. He’s looking for disciples.
We all
start as converts. Too often we stop there. We make Christianity all about what
we believe. Converts aren’t bad or wrong. They are like babies. There’s nothing
wrong with being a baby. The problem comes when that doesn’t change. When a
baby acts like a baby, it’s cute. When a 35-year-old does, it’s sad. As Paul
writes in 1 Corinthians 13:11, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I
thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the
ways of childhood behind me.”
Radical
Devotion, Unreasonable Commitment, and Undivided dedication, those words fit in
nicely with what it means to be a Christian regardless of your stage of
spiritual growth. Christians are authorized and commissioned, and I must add,
expected to make disciples.
Making
disciples and discipline others basically is accomplished as you engage in the
following activities:
helping unbelievers come to saving faith in Jesus, that’s proclamation
fruit.
helping believers grow in their faith, grow
in becoming more like Jesus, grow in sharing Jesus, that’s reproduction fruit.
helping believers know how to make more
disciples of Jesus. When the person you are disciplining begins to reproduce,
believe the harvest will be abundant. I believe that when we are brought to
account with our management and stewardship of the provisions and opportunities
God graces our lives with, a down line of disciples is going to count as a rich
reward.
I came across a list of 15 reasons why Christians
don’t do what Jesus empowered them to do. 15 excuses for disobedience.
Because they themselves have
never been discipled.
Because they don't know-how.
Because they're more focused on
themselves.
Because they're comfortable and
lazy.
Because they're too busy with
other non-important things.
Because they've let fear trump
obedience.
Because they've let complacency
set in.
It's not because they cannot,
but because they choose not to
Because they're consumer-driven
not commission-driven.
Because they think it's the
pastors' responsibility.
Because they think to make
disciples = preaching sermons and/or teaching classes.
Because they feel
under-qualified.
Because they think they have to
become a "leader" first.
Because they think they have to
be a Bible scholar.
Because many professing
Christians are false converts.
Toss those excuses on the fire of repentance and
get busy making disciples.
I have made a mistake that I would like to
correct. I have often conducted what I call discipleship classes. To organize a
group to teach disciples is really not the kind of intimate and organic method
of accomplishing what Jesus has commanded Christians to do.
In 2000 I wrote my dissertation and in it, I said
that for psychological therapy to truly be effective the therapist must allow
the client into their lives and do life together. Needless to say, this was not
well received. A therapist can’t possibly bring her multitude of clients into
her life. It is impossible with the caseload a good therapist has to deal
with. But it is a perfect model for discipleship.
You don’t have to teach a class or attend a
class, you simply ask God to give you the opportunity to proclaim the good news of
the gospel and then when anyone comes to faith, hang out with them, show them
how a disciple lives, they will have questions, some you’ll be able to answer,
some will cause you to look for answers, that’s all ok. You don’t have to be a
Bible scholar, or even all that knowledgeable about every book in the Bible.
All you have to do is demonstrate the things that Jesus has taught you. You are
going to pour into anyone’s life to help them grow deep, grow up and grow
fruit.
Discipleship is not an academic pursuit. Please
forgive me for making it seem like such with all the various ways I’ve tried to
get you to attend groups with the expectation of being discipled. Discipleship
is caught not taught. There is a growing push for younger folks to skip
college and go to a vocational school and learn to be a plumber, an
electrician, a longshoreman, a heavy machine operator. There is some book
learning, but most of the learning comes in the form of being an apprentice to
a journeyman or a contractor. You learn by observation and doing under the
watchful eye of someone more experienced who is teaching you the ropes, showing
you how to do the job. That’s the real model for making disciples.
Jesus said: “instruct them in the practice of all
I have commanded you.” … teaching them to obey everything I have commanded
you…” What you have learned as you grow deep, grow up and grow fruit is what
you are required to share with those believers who need your experience to
start off their spiritual journey in the way they should go.
Since you are already commanded and empowered to
produce reproduction fruit, go ahead and do it. Ask God to bring someone into
your life that you get to sow the seed of the gospel into and then help them to
grow in the faith. It’s your time to go make a disciple, it’s your time to
reproduce.
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