Transformation at its core

“As for that in the good soil, they are those who, hearing the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.” Luke 8:15

So, here’s the real question: What does it MEAN and what does it look like to “bear fruit with patience”? It’s a great question that I’m wrestling through and starting to see parallels to how this undergirds, and is the catalyst for, a transformational community of Christian believers.

The first way, may I propose, is by “hearing the word”. Romans 2:13 says, “For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.” But how do we really hear the word? Yes, we may read the Bible and it registers through our brains, but what brings about a deeper, more meaningful hearing of the word of God? A hearing that touches the depths of our souls; the kind that matters. Matthew Henry brings some light into this situation via his commentary on Luke 8:15:

Notice that Henry’s main thrust, which is well supported through many adjectives and verbs, is the condition of the heart. Simply put, the good ground is an “honest and good heart.” These are the very words of Jesus.

Now if you’re like me, you have noticed some trends in your life that don’t quite match up with this exhortation from Jesus in the Scriptures. Jesus teaches two main points about the good heart: It holds fast and it bears fruit with patience. But, how are we ever going to do this? Our hearts, our lives, our souls are spiritually bankrupt due to our total inability to drag ourselves out of this mess.

It is only by God’s grace that we can find this desire to be renewed in our very hearts “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus…” We must think rightly about God; His grace is abundant, yet given only to those with broken hearts in need of its very redemption.

Much like God’s promise to the nation of Israel, we can rest on the good news of Jesus Christ bringing reconciliation to this world through the cross. God said to Israel, “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came.” In order to make Israel a clean and righteous people, God gave them a new heart, and a new spirit after removing their heart of stone from their fleshly nature. In the same way, by suffering our wrath on the cross, Jesus removes the very flesh nature within us that enslaves us to our sin. He takes it upon himself, dies for it, and defeats it by rising again to bodily life. And the same Spirit that has risen Jesus from the dead is the very Spirit that lives within us as believers and followers of Jesus.

“In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit…” Ephesians 1:13

So we see how our belief in the good news of Jesus Christ is essential to our being sealed with the same Holy Spirit, which is the one who gives us a new heart, and thus giving us the ability to hear and hold fast to the word of God. Only when we recognize it is entirely God’s working, and His grace to make us know, that we may “bear fruit with patience” because we have the ability to hear the word and hold fast to it.

As for why this is the foundation, I believe, of transformational community among Christians? Well, this same system of reconciliation and fulfilling one of our deepest needs, community, is learned through the gospel itself. In fact, it is a motivator for the gospel. God the Father, Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit all exist eternal in community together; such perfect community that in their very essence they are One. John 17:21 tells us that the Father desires for us to be of same mind and unity, with His glory being the motivation and ultimate end-goal. But with such a daunting task at hand, how are we to find tangible steps to redemptive brotherhood?

In the same way that we seek sanctification in our individual lives toward holiness, we should pursue brotherhood by bearing fruit with patience. Proverbs 30:25 says, “the ants are a people not strong, yet they provide their food in the summer.” Their efforts are small, but powerful. With patience and endurance, amidst weakness and perseverance, they store their harvest wisely; they recognize the importance of gradually storing up grain for the greater good. Again, in the same way we should store up honesty, brevity, and encouragement for the greater good. Once we learn how to “bear fruit with patience” with each other, we will see the transformation of this community of believers.

Lest we lose sight of our vitality, and our very salvation, we must remember that our holding fast to the word, which is the source of true brotherhood, is only produced through a good heart. And that good heart is a gift from our Heavenly Father, the man Jesus Christ. We worship him, Jesus, as God because he is God (Luke 9:42-43).

It is my prayer that we may stand upon Christ our solid rock in our quest for “Transformational Community.”