Years ago when I was on holiday in sunny Minorca we saw the most amazing lemon tree that had the biggest most tastiest lemons I’ve ever had. You can spot a healthy fruit tree by how much fruit it grows and whether the fruit tastes good. It is the same in the Christian life.
The tree analogy is a good one for two more reasons. First, it takes time for a tree to grow from a seed to a fruit-bearing tree. Second, the growth of fruit depends on the season it’s in. These realities are true for the Christian too. For many, growth is often slow and hard work – but the change is evident through the months and years as we look at each other’s growth, knowing some seasons will be more fruitful than others.
The tree analogy is good for another reason. As Paul says, we might plant and water but it is God who grows his church. And that is the same for Christians. Through the Holy Spirit watering our lives with the good news of Jesus, we grow and produce fruit.
So, what kind of fruit are we looking for?
Well to borrow the three C’s from The Trellis and the Vine, we need to see growth in
1: Conviction
2: Character
3: Competence
Let’s take a look at each in turn.
1: Conviction
I was listening to the commentary of a football match and the commentator remarked after a particularly poor effort at goal the age-old cliché: ‘he lacked conviction in the shot’. What he meant was, the striker didn’t really believe he could score, or was in two minds about what to do. He lacked conviction and so fluffed the chance!
The fruit of the Christian life is evident when we show conviction, chiefly in two areas. First, that we grow in our conviction of hating sin in our life. And second, that we grow in our conviction that the gospel really is life transforming and that Jesus is enough!
To lack the conviction that sin is horrible is to flirt with disaster. If we dabble with sin, if we tolerate it and accommodate it, growth will be stunted. To be convicted of sin is to know we need forgiveness and know we need a Saviour. It is to confess our sin and run to Jesus. And of course, as our diamond shows – it is ultimately the Holy Spirit who convicts of this sin. However, as Paul shows us in Galatians 5, we are not passive observers. We need to keep in step with the Spirit.[1] We need to understand there is a conflict between flesh and Spirit and see how ‘evident’ sin is and kill it.
We do this most effectively when our conviction in the good news of Jesus grows. We grow in our desire and our confidence that the Gospel is life-changing and the eternal glory of Jesus is more beautiful than the temporary pleasure of sin.
Conviction is the life-long growth that will make you hate and confess your sin and grow more confident in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and worship him! Because cutting away the weeds and depending more on the Son will help produce fruit. As Peter says, at the end of his second letter, ‘But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever! Amen’.[2]
2: Character
Character matters. In many ways it is the most obvious fruit, but requires the most effort. However, what we need to remember is that the empowering presence of the Holy Spirit is the one that grows our character. The fruit of the Spirit is a good place to look. Though some see a vertical dimension to God, or a shift from the vertical to the horizontal, in the fruit of the Spirit, I believe the fruit of the Spirit has to do primarily with our relationships with each other and our relationship to the flesh. Character means growth in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
This of course does not negate the all-important love relationship with God. We should love with all our heart, soul, body and strength. We should be devoted to God in all we do. That devotion, or holiness, is never separated from our horizontal relationships and is vital for growth in character.
It is probably best to ask a close friend to keep you accountable in this, especially if you are self-critical in nature. You might not see the growth – but people around you might be seeing the tree grow.
3: Competence
I need to be careful here, because we all have different gifts and different abilities. I am not saying that knowing Greek and Hebrew is a sign of a mature Christian. I am saying if we are to know God better then we should want to know his Word better.
We will grow more competent in our understanding of theology and how to apply it to our lives. We will also grow in our Christian service.
This is the least important of the three C’s, but you would want to see growth over long period of time as a Christian, in knowing how to handle the Bible better and teaching it if we’re to become disciple making disciples. After all a disciple might be a follower of Jesus, but it also means we are ‘learners’ too.
[1] Galatians 5:25
[2] 2 Peter 3:18
