ARE YOU A FRUITY OR FRUITFUL CHRISTIAN?
[4 minute read]
We’ve all had sorbets, smoothies, puddings or cakes made with our favourite fruits from lychee, fresh coconut, mango, kiwi or high-grade durian. Although they look nothing like the real fruit, they are skillfully created to deliver the smell and taste like the real thing, and sometimes even similar nutritional value. The only difference is once you finish it, you won’t find any seeds that produce the real fruit.
This throws a question for us individually as believers: am I a fruity or fruitful Christian? Have I picked up all the superficial mannerisms of Christian-likeness and less of the demanding characteristics of Christ-likeness? Do I go to great lengths to be a member of the ‘right Christian crowds’ but hardly ever step out to make meaningful and enduring connections with anyone?
To be sure, this has nothing to do with how long one has been a Christian, if one is first- or second-generation Christian, or which church one attends. In fact, there is no membership in the world that guarantees automatic fruitfulness in the life of a believer. Rather, John 15:1-8 tells us that God is the Gardener, Jesus is the Vine, and we are the branches. Knowing that we only become branches when we are attached to Jesus (the Vine) removes all ambiguity about how to live a fruitful life.
“I am the true vine, and My Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in Me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit He prunes so that it will be even more fruitful.” (v1-2).
What is a Fruity Christian?
A fruity Christian is one that exudes all the flavours, vernacular and charisma of a believer. It is one who sticks to well-rehearsed recipes for relationships, one who is well-versed with Christian rituals, who faithfully attends church or church groups, and whose home is likely decorated with posters of Scripture verses. It is one who rarely – if ever – speaks off-script, does anything spontaneous, or risks being seen as uncharacteristic.
Surrounded by telling artifacts and embellishments, a fruity Christian is easy to spot but it’s hard to say what kind of person exists apart from the usual Christian crowds and paraphernalia, or what qualities will emerge and become evident when the rubber meets the road. A fruity Christian life lacks lasting fruitfulness in life and relationships. While busy ‘serving the Lord’, the fruity Christian is oblivious to the emptiness on the inside, and easily discouraged and disillusioned when outcomes turn out differently from expected.
2 Timothy 3: 1-5 warns us of the subtlety of falling into the pattern of a fruity Christian. “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God - having a form of godliness but denying its power.”
The final word in verse 5 is this: “Have nothing to do with such people.” That is, don’t admire or emulate their superficial standard of Christian-likeness. Just look at Jesus and His twelve disciples - no one was like anyone but they were all Christlike in their own ways.
WHAT IS A FRUITFUL CHRISTIAN?
Jemima Ooi said ‘success is not fruitfulness’. A fruitful Christian is one whose life is being transformed continually with deep spiritual cleansing and change constantly happening on the inside. The word ‘remain’ appears eight times in John 15:1-8. It emphasizes an unflinching attachment to Jesus, the Vine. A fruitful Christian is ever conscious of strong external and internal forces that threaten its attachment to the Vine.
Yet, the reward for the branch to stay connected to the Vine is fruitfulness in increasing measure. “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control…” (Galatians 5:22-23). The verse ends with a cautionary note: “Against such things there is no law”.
This means that fruitfulness (and Christlikeness) cannot be achieved by observing moral laws or prescriptive norms to produce the desired Christian behaviour. Unless one is connected to the Vine, there is no hope for anyone of ever achieving spiritual fruitfulness.
As long as we live, we need to grow in Christlike attributes and strength through a growing knowledge of Jesus. A fruitful Christian is one who learns to walk conscientiously step by step with the Lord – no matter what life throws at us. Through it, we will receive strength and grace to go through deep waters and fiery furnaces!
What are the conditions that promote spiritual growth and maturity? Importantly, we need to be in the company of spiritual provokers and not Christian navel-gazers. Suffice to say that they can be found in the same Christian community but they approach spiritual growth in the body of Christ differently.
“Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better.” (Colossians 1:10).
Finally, Jeremiah 17:7-8 also tells us that when we trust in the Lord and make Him the source of our hope and confidence, we will “never stop producing fruit.”
