What Does it Mean to Abide in Christ?

John 15: 1-11 (NASB) “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is thrown away as a branch and dries up; and they gather them, and cast them into the fire and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples. Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also 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 so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full.”

What a mouthful! Right? There was much said here and what it should cause in us are many questions. Today’s form of teaching by sermon is expository, meaning we go verse by verse through Scripture and do not focus on one certain topic. Too often, we brush over passages like these when we should stop and delve. One of my favorite pastors ever (who now is safely with Christ), he and his church spent an entire year exploring the command by Christ “to abide in Him.” I do believe they were on the right track. However, this is a hard topic to digest and even harder to put into practice. So what questions should this command bring up?

First let’s consider the context in which it was given. It was our Lord’s last night on earth and He was giving us His last instructions. He was saying goodbye and about to finish His work on earth by keeping the Father’s commandment to sacrifice Himself for the repair of our relationship with the Father. His example of obedience and surrender to the Father’s will carries a lot of weight. And just like Christ kept His Father’s commandments so we too are to keep His commandments.

What did He mean by “Abide in Him”? What does the vinedresser do? What was the fruit He was talking about? What is pruning? What did He mean by throwing away branches and burning them that do not abide in Him? What did He mean by ask whatever you wish and it will be done? What is our proof that we abide in Him? And how do we keep ourselves in an abiding state?

In my walk with Christ, the most difficult thing I find is my ability to “abide in Him”. It is hard enough to get there. But to remain in the state of continuously abiding in Christ seems almost an impossibility (at least for me). Distractions, selfishness, lack of faith, expectations from other believers, or just getting things wrong are all there to throw me off base. But those things cannot be excuses. Christ commands that I abide in Him, period! This may take a while, but let’s start to break things down.

The first thing we should do is realize that we cannot conform Christ’s command to abide in Him into today’s church environment. What do I mean? Today’s church is busy. Actually too busy! Abiding in Christ has a sense of calm to it. There also is a quietness and a surety in the heart of the abider. And the true abider in Christ is obvious. They stand out from among us by reason of their faith. They believe completely in the ways of Christ and refuse to deviate from them. The majority of us cannot seem to grasp the importance of an abiding and surrendered life to Christ. Instead we have replaced abiding with works. I’m not advocating against works but for heartful listening to the words of Christ. Almost everywhere I visit or the things I hear on Christian radio or TV are all about the “Marthas” (ministry) and hardly ever about the “Marys” (discipleship).

Luke 10: 38-42 (NASB) “Now as they were traveling along, He entered  a village; and a woman named Martha welcomed Him into her home. She had a sister called Mary, who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to His word. But Martha was distracted with all her preparations; and she came up to Him and said, ‘Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving alone? Then tell her to help me.’ But the Lord answered and said to her, ‘Martha, Martha, you are worried and bothered about so many things; but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her.’”

We are extremely distracted! The Church is diligently seeking out Marthas by the hundreds and thousands to help us with these distractions. But in so doing we have forgotten about the Marys. We need Marthas to carry out our programs. We are told we need Marthas to proselytize (persuading others to join us) the world. We need Marthas to teach our classes, write our books, lead our small groups, preach our sermons, serve our meals, and create our next program. But they are our programs and our ideas not the commandments of Christ. Jesus gave us a very strong admonishment in John 5: 39-44 (NASB) “You search the Scriptures because you think in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from men; but I know that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?” We accept honor and glory from each other for our great new ideas. We feed off the respect we get for being so committed. We assume everyone desires to serve. We work like dogs for the “glory of God”. Yet intimacy is missing in our lives.

We excuse ourselves that each new idea we concoct brings more fruit. But what kind of fruit and is the fruit any good? I’m afraid we are growing grapes in poor soil. And again, we are too busy working our own plans to listen to the Vinedresser! Our present state is what’s known as insanity. That means continuing to do the same things hoping for better results. We have become unproductive in making disciples. The Father (Vinedresser) wants juicy ripe fruit. That’s why He works the soil and prunes the branches. We are digging in the wrong soil and cutting off the wrong branches!

So how do we get ourselves from spiritual workaholics to abiders in Christ? It seems we are more comfortable working for the “cause” than listening and learning the ways of Christ. Are Christ’s words too complicated to understand or are they too inconvenient to follow? We so easily accept man’s own ideas as truth and neglect obeying Christ’s commandments as the way to live (John 5: 39-44). But without paying attention to His words there will be no good and ripe fruit in our lives. We must return to the basics of reading His word and then following His instructions. Plain and simple!

Some of you might say, “I never signed up for something like this.” That’s our fault. We have presented you with a substandard gospel. Most likely, all you were told was that Christ died for your sins and you needed to accept Him into your life as your personal savior. We got you to the cross but left you there with no way forward. No intimate walk, no abundant life, no strength in faith, only forgiveness of sin. That is not the true gospel! Only the beginning. Let’s back up.

Luke 14: 27-30 (NASB) “Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’”

Before my wife and I retired and moved to western Nebraska we lived in Trinidad, CO. Trinidad was the southernmost town in the state. Colorado had recently passed their bill legalizing marijuana. Pot shops began to spring up like crazy. Folks from New Mexico and Texas streamed across the border in order to buy their pot. We had nearly 30 shops for a town with a population of 8500 people. One man in particular decided he would build an in-town grow facility. He laid the pipes and foundation for a planned beautiful facility. Then he ran out of money. The lot sat vacant and remained barren the whole time we lived there. Every time we drove past that lot I couldn’t help but think of this passage in Luke. An unfinished tower. A monument to poor planning. If people are going to turn their lives over to Christ in order to begin their lives anew, then they need to know what that really takes.

This is what most people go through when they start their walk with Christ. They get started but do not know in what direction they are supposed to go. We as the church body have done them wrong. Meaning the Christian walk is more than just forgiveness of sins. But if we don’t understand the walk ourselves, how can we help those just getting started? Are we afraid they won’t join us because they will see the cost is too much or have we not paid the price and gone far enough down the road ourselves? If we all want to abide in Christ then we must search out the cost of real discipleship. And determine if we wish to pay the price. That step is a must! We can’t jump into the middle of the walk thinking we can just wing it.

We as the Church shortchange these poor folks (new believers) by having them join our group and skip ahead straight to their “ministry” right off the bat. We  assess one’s personality and say, “You would make a great greeter.” Or “You are great with kids so please teach our first graders.” Somehow we have gotten so far off track that we think our relationship with Christ is a working relationship and not a relationship of love and wonder. In fact most of our church bulletins list ways you can sign up to participate in the group. Pressure comes to bear and unless you serve, you are not really part of the fold. We are passing on improper information. New believers are destined to fail without good and righteous examples. The Lord wants Marys. We give Him Marthas. So our fruit comes out a little sour! Marthas are good and useful but they need to start their Christian walk as Marys.

The term for pruning is also called cleansing. That’s what the Father (The Vinedresser) does with His new believers. He cleanses them of their sins at the get go. But He continues to create and produce holy righteousness in them exchanging their old ways for the new (pruning). How can these folks grow in God when we will not show and teach them the sacred ways? If they do not abide in Christ, they will be cut off, thrown away, piled up, dried out, cast into the fire, and burned. The exact opposite of Christ’s intention for His followers!

Here in Nebraska farm and ranch land, everyone has a burn pile. We get a lot of wind. Branches and even whole trees get wiped out from the storms. Or they just wear out and die. Rounding up the dead wood is both tedious and strenuous before the burning even begins. Is this how we want the lives of new believers to become? Imagining the angels rounding up our converts and tossing them into the fire to be consumed does not sit well with me. We must stop cookie cutting out Marthas and find out what it takes to make a Mary.

Christ clearly told us, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.” Apart means ‘in pieces’ abide means ‘together’. It looks like Christ is telling us it is an either-or relationship. We either abide or we are apart. Sadly, I have observed many churches existing in an apart from Christ world while pretending they are abiding deeply in His grace. We tell each other how fine our clothing looks while we are all standing there spiritually naked. None of us wish to take a reality check and acknowledge who it is that we really see in the mirror And herein lies our biggest challenge. Are we willing to change from who we are to who Christ wants us to be?

They tell alcoholics that the first step to the cure is to admit they are alcoholics. I believe the first step we should take as Christ’s Church is to admit we are living apart from Christ. Only then can the Holy Spirit step in and remake our hearts. We cannot abide in Christ until we want to abide in Christ. He must become our deepest desire. And obedience to His words our proof to Him of our commitment. That is the center of His will.

Until we do this, the whole “ask whatever you wish and it will be done for you” must be left alone. We cannot quote Scripture to God unless we have surrendered ourselves completely to Him. We pretend and we quote like it’s all on Him. That’s not the kind of trust and faith He intends for us. But it’s what we do as humans without even realizing that we are embarrassing ourselves. Sadly, it’s why so few of our prayers ever get answered. We must admit that we are religious in our actions and living without surrendered lives. If I do not submit to Christ how can He reconcile me to Himself?

There is nothing wrong with self-reflection, especially for a church body. Look in the mirror. Do you like who you see? I know most days I am disappointed with my reflection in the mirror. But should I stop looking and pretend everything will work itself out? That’s not the way to go for those who want to follow Christ. We must deal with what we find in ourselves that is selfish and unrighteous, or just plain wrong. And help each other change.

Good news! That is one of the main purposes of the Church. To help each other to abide in Christ. We think the purpose of the Church is to make more people like us. We are wrong. We need to abide together and let the Holy Spirit bring others into a healthy fold. So how do we begin to abide together?

Mary was enraptured with Jesus. All she could do was sit there and drink in His words. Her heart was full of love towards the Master. The first part of Luke 10: 42 Jesus says, “but only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part.” There is a reference here to Psalm 27:4 “One thing have I asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty (delightfulness) of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.” This is a sweet walk, to delight ourselves in Christ’s words and to meditate on His ways. Yet, there is more to it than just listening. Doing what He says is what yields the good fruit. The kind of fruit that enriches our lives and attracts others to Christ. Otherwise we are only “going through religious motions.” That kind of effort by us will produce no answered prayers, and no abiding in Christ. That is an empty walk!

You cannot blend sheep and goats or even tares and wheat. The bad will always corrupt the good. However, Marys and Marthas can exist together. The problem I observe is that the Marthas want the Marys to help them work and can’t understand why they wish to sit and wonder. The Marthas are too committed to join the Marys to sit and absorb the words and ways of Christ. They are too busy working. We must be sure to never interfere with our Marys and their awe of Christ. No matter how important we take our work to be, it pales to the relationship they have with Him. If by chance, a Martha wishes to become a Mary, it will take a completely new look at the life being lived. Always remember, our Marys are precious beyond compare.

Marys will make us feel uncomfortable at times. They seem too free in their worship. I know their trust in God shines a light on my life that shames me. They have a thirst in their eyes that’s difficult to comprehend. All they can talk about is Jesus. It is much easier for the rest of us to work without them around. But the Church needs its Marys for the simple reason that they want to follow Christ whatever the cost may be. They are our abiders. They are our examples of discipleship. They can hear the Father’s voice. We need their influence drastically in our churches. And if you have a pastor that’s a Mary, for goodness sake do not get rid of him or her. Instead, welcome the conviction and correction they preach. They can help lead us to an abiding life.

No matter how much work we want to accomplish, we must remember Christ’s own words, “Apart from Me you can do nothing!” We must abide together as one. There is a difference between agreeing together and being in tune together. Just agreeing is not enough for a church. In tune means we are walking to the same beat as the Master. If our foundation is laid with Marys praising and praying, our Marthas have a better chance of success with their working and serving. Let’s treat them both well. Let’s admit there is more to this walk than what we are settling for. Let’s abide together in love. And let’s follow the commands of Christ in holy obedience.

What say you?