A Full Basket
Imagine for a moment that an Angel appeared before you and handed you a basket. You are told the fruit you have produced in your Christian walk will be placed in the basket for you to see. }
Will your basket become full, or partially filled, or will any fruit appear in your basket at all?
Upon contemplating such an event, are you saddened by a lack of fruit or does your heart swell with joy at the fullness of your basket? Jesus said He is the vine and His Father is the vinedresser.
In John 15 the Word tells us 1 “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the words which I have spoken to you.
4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. 5 I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
6 If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned.”
I ask you, brother and sister, are you a fruit-bearing branch or a branch that must be cut away? Do you speak of Christ, do you teach of our Savior and counsel in love the teaching of the Holy Word of God? Can anyone outside of your church family see Christ Jesus in you?
Must you tell someone that you are a believer and have received Jesus as your Savior or can they see through your actions and words a Christ-like image?
Are we not told in Matthew 28 to “Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost”?
Many will claim that Jesus is their Savior, but if you ask them if Jesus is also Lord of their lives, the response is often a blank stare as if there is no understanding whatsoever.
If Jesus is the Lord of your life, you will also have a desire to serve and obey His teachings.
Joshua 24:14 “Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.”
Why is there such a great lack of service in the Christian community and in turn, a lack of spiritual fruit produced by the saved?
Can we blame the individual Christian? The answer is yes and no! Surely we as Christians, upon receiving the gift of Salvation, have a duty to study the Word of God and pray, but a majority of the blame can be laid upon the church-body of mature Christians.
For six decades now, churches have focused almost entirely on evangelism and lost sight of discipleship! We are not training up our newly-saved Christians.
How many churches do you know that have discipleship efforts formed within them? Oh sure, some will give it the honorable mention from time to time but do not implement anything.
One of the reasons is so very few are willing or have any desire to serve, and discipleship is service! If you call them disciples, yokefellows, or any other name, it takes training to get these folks prepared, and since there is such a great lack of those who will choose to put forth any effort in service to the Lord, the majority of churches don’t have the numbers to train people and don’t have the people willing to be trained for proper discipleship.
In the 1940’s and 50’s there was a great move by the Church towards evangelism and many great evangelists came from that movement. The most widely known was the Reverend Billy Graham. Christian churches focused their entire efforts toward evangelistic activities, forsaking the teaching and training of those that came to know the Lord from these evangelical efforts.
In the 60s, 70s, and 80s, seminary schools were popping up everywhere like Dollar General stores in the South. Along with those schools large denominational associations were formed and the charismatic movement began in the 60s. Churches began playing on emotion and running a tally on professions of faith. It was almost an assembly line, “get a profession of faith and kick ’em to the curb while looking toward the next profession”.
Churches began to be rewarded by attendance numbers and professions. Before long new church buildings were sprouting everywhere and because of the number of seminary schools and associations making it mandatory to have a seminary degree to preach in associational churches, preaching became a career path for many.
Our pulpits were filled by men who chose to preach instead of being filled with men called by God to preach the Word! Is there any wonder there are so many empty seats in our churches?
Now that I have spent ample time explaining when, where, and why things have gotten to the place we are in today, ultimately it is our responsibility as Christians to correct the problem and fill those baskets!
So Pastors, let’s get those discipleship programs rolling; Teachers, let’s start training up those new folks in Christ Jesus; Christians, it’s time to spend time in and study the Word.
Let us make a vow to God to put forth every possible effort to keep the new Christians from falling away because they have no support. Lift one another up in prayer, encourage one another, and worship, I mean truly worship, together!
I ask everyone to pray for Israel and the Peace of Jerusalem.
May your baskets be full and the Glory of the Lord shine among the Brethren. Amen
Kenneth Kellar
A Man Called by God to Teach and Disciple