The same through us and in us

"The main thing God gets out of your life is not the achievements you accomplish. It's the person you become." - Dallas Willard

This was another chapter in Ben Sternke and Matt Tebbe's book 'Having the Mind of Christ: Eight Axioms to Cultivate A Robust Faith' that had some really great points, but also some question marks (for me). 

The title of this chapter is "GOD DOES THE SAME WORK THROUGH US AND IN US."

I like the idea, and most of what they had to say. My concern was their seeming dismissal of leaders who seemed to do good work, but then failed in some way (moral failure, left the faith, etc.). They tried to differentiate "fruit" and "ministry." As they say, ministry is just service, which can produce good results. But fruit is the work of God's Spirit in and through someone. I guess I'm not comfortable saying that just because a Christian leader "fell away" at some point means everything they did prior (or even during or after) was void of God's Spirit.

Anyway, the crux of the chapter...

• "In some ways, we've all managed to disconnect the work God does through us from the work God does in us, as though they don't really have anything to do with each other. But they have everything to do with each other: what God does through us God also does in us..." (p.105)
• "Our problem, though, is not that we don't do anything when we're disconnected from the vine; it's that we scramble around trying to do a lot of things, regardless of whether we're connected to Jesus or not... It's a lot of activity, maybe even productivity, but it doesn't result in lasting kingdom fruit." (p. 106)
• "It's only by submitting to God's work in our lives through repentance and trust that we can become those God can work through to bring blessing and healing to others." (p.109)
• "As Dallas Willard pointed out, the problem with giving pearls to pigs  is not that the pigs aren't worthy of your precious pearls, it's that pigs don't need pearls! Pearls aren't helpful for pigs...."(Matt. 7:6) (p. 110)
• "God is not interested in getting us to do better things; God is interested in being with us and calling us into partnership and participation in the life God shares with us. So our focus isn't on doing great things for God, it's on joining God in God's work." p(111)
• "When we take in the entirety of Scripture, we see that God's mission isn't a project that God uses people to accomplish, because in many ways God's project is people! God is creating a people to live together under the lordship of Christ, flourishing in every way, becoming fully and deeply human together as we learn to love one another as Christ loved us..." (p.112)

Again, this was a helpful chapter for me. I can maybe even appreciate that they tried to address Christian leaders who had fallen away. Personally, I'm just a little uncomfortable saying that someone who "lost their way" (or whatever you want to call it) was never on the way to begin with (which is what it seems like they were saying). I dunno... maybe it just hit a little too close to home for me.

Still, that quote from Willard at the beginning... that's worth remembering! As is the point of the chapter.

***

 John 15:4-5

Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.