John Chapter Fifteen: The Christian Life
By: Deji Yesufu
The writing of these John series is coming in a period when I am involved in the making of documentaries around Nigerian founding fathers. The first person in that series is Obafemi Awolowo, the great Yoruba leader who was once Premier of Western Nigeria. In 1951, when Awolowo founded the Action Group, he made the point that the reason why they have employed the word “action” in the party’s name is so that the world will know the party more for what it does than for what it says. In those days, Nigerians were just acquiring Western education and there was a penchant for people to appear in public spaces, vaunting words and being regarded as educated and elite – while their thinking was no less different from the uneducated individuals all around them. These people will do anything to appear on the pages of newspapers; they pay to have their pictures published by journalists; etc. Everything about folks like that was only about public image; they paid very little emphasis to building an inner character that would help the general good. It is not surprising that almost a century after Awolowo made those observation, a lot of Nigerians are still known for making effort to uphold a public image than using the same effort to build inner character. In our observation of John chapter fifteen, we see Jesus call his disciples to pay attention to three Christian virtues: they are to bear fruits; they were to love one another; and they were to be men of endurance.
From the first verse of this chapter to the eleventh, Jesus lays out a few realities that will help the Christian bear fruits. First, he makes it clear that the Chrisitan life consist of bearing fruit. That the Christian is a branch on the overall tree which is actually himself – “I am the vine, you are the branches…”, he said. Then he makes the observation that the branches that bear fruit, will come under God’s gracious pruning so they may bear more fruit. One will think that the branches that bear fruit will be spared, and that God will prune the ones that do not bear fruit. But Jesus is pointing us to the economy of husbandry – he is interested in fruit, and he will not waste effort on branches that do not bear fruit. He will put his effort on branches that bear fruit.
Then our Lord gives a caution: the branches that bear fruit will come under God’s pruning. At such a time, the believer must develop the discipline of abiding in Christ Jesus. What does abiding mean? It will mean that the believer will walk in faith and not by sight. It will mean the believer must rest content in the gracious providence of God. It will mean that the believer will have the ability to wait. It could be exasperating to be keep to God’s righteous standards, and yet be experiencing God’s pruning – which is painful. Yet, Jesus commands that we abide in him – we trust him; we wait for him; we see him in all these. Jesus completes his admonition to bear fruit by making it clear that when we keep his commandments, we also abide in him. This way we bear fruit in keeping with God’s gracious works in our lives.
From verse twelve to twenty, Christ begins to tell the disciples of the importance of loving one another. It appears the impression our Lord is giving them is that the world will not be an easy place to live in. God the Father has not promised a life of ease for his own – he will bring the pruning. The only solace Christians should find in this sojourn in a life of faith should be the love that they find among God’s people. Jesus commands his disciples to love one another. Here we find two pictures: a local assembly that professes sound doctrine but that is devoid of practical charity, and a local church that professes sound doctrine but that goes the extra length to love one another. Jesus would prefer that all churches are the latter. The reality, however, is that most churches are the former. Like Obafemi Awolowo observed in the 1950s, Christ will prefer that we are doers – we are men of action than men that love to vaunt words. Talk is cheap, we are told. It is men that do things that distinguish themselves. If you have lived the Christian life long enough, you discover quickly that love is that item in Christian fellowship that everyone needs. We often talk of tough love – the tendency to want to rebuke an erring brother in the name of upholding the truth. We forget that the Bible does command that we speak even truth in love. If we feel any sense of having falling short of God’s standards here – it is because this is how God actually wants us to see ourselves. We can now repent and try again. Let our local churches be places where love is demonstrated, and not just where words are spoken.
Jesus Christ will wish his people are bearing fruits in their Christian Walk, which will mean they are walking in love towards those who are within and those without. This is vital because the Christian life will come with endless opposition that will require endurance on our part. From verse twenty to the end of the chapter, Christ begins to tell his disciples of the challenges that they will face for professing his name. He lists these challenges: they will persecute you as they persecuted me; they will hate you as they have hated me; and they will refuse you words, even as they refused mine. The Christian life, Jesus appears to be saying, will be like walking constantly against the storm. It will require endurance. Some of the things that will help us wage the good warfare will be that we abide in Christ and we bear fruit of sincere Christian charity – both to those within and to those without.
Then Jesus ends his discuss by telling his disciples that they will get a wonderful resource to help them: the Comforter, the Holy Spirit, will come from the Father and come along us to help us live the Christian life. The Christian life consists of a great lot of things. It might be wise that we never look at what Christ demands of us in a collective manner, but rather in a day to day, moment by moment manner. If we look at the gamut of demands the Christians life lays on us, we will despair. But if we take each day, and each moment, by faith – one after the other, trusting in the resources that the Spirit provides, we are likely to emerge having achieved a great deal.
At the end of our lives, we will realize that life itself requires a great deal of endurance. It is better to respond to life issues with a Christian worldview. Therefore, while it is easier to resort to the arm of the flesh to achieve things, it is always better to use Christian standards in every demand that we face in our life. Jesus Christ has not called us to be hermits. He has called to be a light in a dark world. The government of Obafemi Awolowo that led Western Nigeria from 1951 to 1959 remains the most successful government in Nigerian history – there has been none other like it. Many people wonder how Awolowo was able to achieve so much at so early a period in Nigeria’s history. Awolowo did all these because the man was a Christian. He utilized biblical principles in his politics, and God in return blessed his work. He let his works do the talking. Rather than be men that talk, let us all be known more for our actions – our love and our endurance.
Amen.
Deji Yesufu is the pastor of Providence Reformed Baptist Church Ibadan. He is the author of HUMANITY. He can be reached on [email protected]
Share this: