True vine (John 15)
The figure of a vine and its branches is perhaps the best
illustration of the intimate union between Christ and his followers. Other
figures of speech approach the ideal, but are seen to fall short in some
particular. That of the shepherd and his sheep gives us the thought of intimacy,
but it is an intimacy between a guardian of a distinctly superior order and
creatures of an inferior grade whom he watches over and protects. That of a
husband and wife gives the idea of intimacy and union between two beings of the
same order, but they are two persons with independent lives, and one of them
will live on even though the other dies. And finally, that figure of the head
and members does illustrate one life common to the whole, but it too falls short
by comparison to the vine and branches in not being able to express the constant
putting forth of new growths.
This picture of the vine and its branches has something very
worthwhile to say about scriptural fellowship. Christ's words are simple yet
profound:
"I am the true vine" (v 1). It is significant that our Lord
does not say, "I am the stem, and you are only the branches" (cp v 5). The whole
plant is Christ, and we as the branches are a part of the whole -- not just
attached to Christ, but a part of Christ! Such an expressive statement
gives sledge-hammer force to the warning of Christ in Mat 25:40,45:
"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have
done it unto
me."
Cutting off Christ
We should be extremely reluctant to cut off brethren, and no
better reason can be given than this: that through lack of love and patience we
may find ourselves cutting off Christ! This is analogous to the comical
picture of the man in the tree who is so busy pruning that he inadvertently saws
off the limb on which he is sitting! Comical indeed, naturally speaking; but the
spiritual counterpart is a great tragedy. How many lives have been blighted by
what in the beginning was an earnest (if misdirected) zeal for "purity", but the
outcome was the separation of the zealous remnant from any hope of nourishment
which might have been received through the remainder of the vine. Children in
the separated families have found this self-imposed isolation spiritually
withering; the links to a healthy ecclesial life were never fused; adulthood
finds them drifting away in greater percentages than their opposite numbers in
the "loose" ecclesias!
Christ continues: "My Father is the husbandman. Every branch
in me that beareth not fruit He taketh away" (vv 1,2). In this analogy
the "branches" are pruned only by the Father. This is not to deny, of
course, the scriptural duty of ecclesias in extreme situations to take the
initiative and "purge out the old leaven". However, as may be seen in other
passages (notably 1Jo 2:19), sometimes it has been acceptable for the
faithful ecclesia to wait until the Father, in His providence and infinite
wisdom, severs the diseased or dead branches from their midst. (Compare also the
lesson of the seven "stars" in Rev 1:16 -- they are seen in Christ's hand. To
him is committed all authority from the Father; it is his prerogative
alone to extinguish them if need be.)
"Abide in me"
The central exhortation of Christ's parable in John 15 is
found in v 4: "Abide in me". Each branch must abide in the vine in order to
bring forth fruit. If for any reason it is severed, the branch may continue in
existence for a time, but in the day of reckoning the "husbandman" will gather
it together with the other lifeless sticks and cast them into the fire of
eternal destruction (v 6).
All of the emphasis here is upon our duty, our necessity, to
attach ourselves solidly to the true vine, and never to relinquish our grasp.
There is an old fable about a dog with a bone who was crossing a bridge one day,
when he happened to glance down and spy his reflection in the water. Thinking
this to be another dog and a rival claimant for his bone, he bared his teeth and
gave out with a growl and a ferocious bark. Unfortunately, in the process he
dropped his bone, which sank irretrievably to the bottom of the
stream.
Like that dog, we sometimes forget who our real enemy is, and
in giving our attention to fighting a supposed enemy we may lose our grip on the
real prize. Christ has wisely advised us to hold firm to our hope, and
not to worry overmuch about someone else's right to that same hope. Unlike the
dog's one bone, there is food enough for all in Christ; the "branches" need not
squabble among themselves,
What a sad and confusing picture we have today in the
ecclesial world: a veritable host of "independent" branches, each one jealously
grafting other branches back and forth, as if to say, "We alone are the
people, and wisdom will die with us." (In fact, some of these smaller
communities are near extinction because of long-continued division and
sub-division in pursuit of that elusive "purity".) But all the while, whether
they like it or not, they are all attached to the one vine -- since the
fundamental beliefs of each "branch" are sound (although some "branches" imply
by their rhetoric that their rivals are really attached to
brambles).
The wholesome picture
Let us get back to the wholesome picture of the true vine. In
this ecclesial network it is our business, wherever we may be, to send out new
shoots, to grow and consolidate -- so that others through us may receive
sustenance from Christ the one vine. Practically speaking, we must endeavor
always to strengthen our bonds, with brethren in our local ecclesia, with
brethren in isolation, with other ecclesias near and far. The "vine" of the
Truth must be an intricately woven web of spiritual relationships, through all
of which flows life from Christ. We must not be afraid thus to put out more
"feelers" and bind ourselves closer and closer together with our brethren. The
more we seek to be "one" with our brethren, both in joys and sorrows, the
healthier will be our attitude toward fellowship. Where true love exists,
misunderstandings and suspicions will be much less frequent. We may still
periodically have to remove recalcitrant members from our midst, but if we are
living up to this standard it will be a truly painful experience -- as it
should be!
It will not be something that gives us a secret pleasure at
the thought of our own superiority. A full appreciation of our interdependent
relationship with all our brethren will serve us well as a necessary
check upon the traditional divisive tendencies of Christadelphia.
