Proof of Our Discipleship

“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the fire, and burned. If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. These things I have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (John 15: 4-11).

Jesus used the illustration of a branch and a vine to describe the kind of relationship he wanted His disciples to experience after His physical departure from this earth. Jesus wants maturing disciples to bear much fruit, glorify God, abide in His love, and be full of joy. This is a tall order considering the stresses and trials of this temporal world, yet Jesus calls us to experience and nurture the kind of Christ-filled life that presents undeniable proof of our discipleship.

One of the primary lessons I learned in the course of my doctoral studies was the value of self-reflecting. When I was first introduced to the practice of self-reflecting I was resistant. After all, I was a disciple of Jesus Christ and I believed my focus should always be on Him and never on myself. By the end of this precious learning experience I had produced a 211 page self-reflecting dissertation that helped me better understand servant leadership, how others perceived me as a servant leader, and most important, how close I actually came to my goal of daily reflecting the servant leadership of Jesus Christ to others. Jesus calls us to some self- reflecting today. How would we honestly describe our attitude in recent days? Who has been getting the recognition and acknowledgement for our achievements recently? Where do we go to get affirmation, acceptance, and love? How would we describe our emotional state through the most recent trials of life? Would Jesus be able say with confidence that we “prove to be my disciples”?

Whenever Jesus issued a command, like He does today with the words… “Abide in me, and I in you” He always gives clear instructions for us to follow in order to obey. Today is no different. Just as the fruit born by a branch is the result of dependence on nourishment delivered through a vine, so to the fruit-bearing and God glorifying life of true disciples is dependent on nourishment delivered through Christ. Our responsibility is nurturing and maintaining a healthy connection to Christ. Jesus called this abiding in Him and he taught that it comes through two important spiritual disciplines.

First, we must let His word abide in us. He repeats a pervious command here… “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples” (John 8:31). The Greek word translated abide here is menō and it means to tarry, stay, remain, continue, dwell, and endure. You see, we are tempted to listen to the word in church or at Bible study, but then to live according to the empty words of the world the rest of the week. Proven disciples live in God’s word. It shapes our worldview and is our final authority, and it is undeniable proof that Jesus Christ is our Master.

Second, we must abide in the love of Christ. We all desperately want to be loved. We long for the love and acceptance of parents, family, friends, and others. But the imperfect love of imperfect people is bound to let us down from time to time and often leads us away from the love of Christ. Earnest disciples have one heart-consuming, first love… “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). Jesus said when our heart, soul, mind, and strength are consumed by His love we will obey His commandments and prove to the world that we are His disciples.

As we grow up into Christ and learn to abide in Him, He works in us to develop undeniable…

Proof of Our Discipleship.