Jesus: the Untold Story

As the exciting launch of two additional campuses of Mecklenburg Community Church took place, senior pastor Jim White unveiled the topic for our next series. While some students may read the title and think “what else is there to learn about Jesus?” others are intrigued to discover information that is not mainstream. Whether we fall into either of these categories or we’re smack in the middle of the spectrum, we can all be assured this series will teach us something we weren’t expecting and we needed to learn.

As he educates us on the aspects of John that set this book apart from the synoptic gospels (the three books that tell the same accounts of Jesus’ life), Pastor White discusses the seven “I Am” statements found in John.

John 15:1-4 reads, “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. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. 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 terrible at keeping plants alive. I over-water, I under-water, I forget I have plants in the first place. But there is one plant on my desk that, after much ridicule from my officemates, I have vowed to keep alive. For a while the plant was beautiful, then after receiving less and less attention it began to shrivel and die. Day after day I would remove the dry, brown leaves, hoping that giving the plant some “air to breathe” would be just the trick. In all this concern about the outward appearance of my plant, I failed to realize I was withholding from the plant what it needed most: water. Not just any amount of water, though: too much would drown the plant and too little would leave it thirsty and unable to thrive. It needed a consistent and steady amount. So I pulled out all of the old leaves and stems and started fresh.

In much the same way sometimes we too just need a fresh start. We need to realize that picking at one or two dead leaves each day isn’t going to help our other leaves flourish. We need to start fresh, and we need water – the living water of Christ. Living by His word alone is the only way we can prosper. But we can’t take too little or too much of it at a time. We will either lose interest or become overwhelmed. We need just the right amount to digest.

Galatians 5:22-23 declares the fruits of the Spirit to be “…love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control…” Without our Father we are unable to bear these fruits, but with Him all things are possible. He is a much better pruner than we will ever be and for that I am eternally thankful. You should be, too, because if it was left to me your plants might shrivel.