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| The Root of the Problem
Digging up the Past - By Mark Barnard
 “A man had a fig tree, planted in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it, but did not find any. So he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’ ‘Sir,’ the man replied, ‘leave it alone for one more year, and I’ll dig around it and fertilize it. If it bears fruit the next year, fine! If not, then cut it down’” (Luke 13:6–9).
What was wrong with the unproductive fig tree? The aggravated owner of the vineyard saw problems with the fruit; his astute gardener, however, saw problems with the root. The gardener dug around the tree, applied fertilizer and gave the fig tree one more year of care. Like the barren fig tree, what’s wrong with an unproductive church, one consistently failing to bear fruit? Instead of looking for the expected fruit, perhaps we should do a little digging.
Heart Healing
Consider Emmanuel Fellowship in Douglasville, Georgia. This discouraged Alliance church was bewildered at the disappointing results of its nine-year ministry in a growing suburb of Atlanta. With the church on the verge of extinction, the members took a hard look at themselves and faced a painful reality. Their problem, it turned out, was rooted in the church’s troubled past.
At first they could not put their finger on it. People would say, “Something is holding us back. We just don’t know what it is. Perhaps it’s our lack of vision or maybe our lack of identity.” They had dwindled over the years from 125 persons down to 25. This frustrated yet committed group was nearing the breaking point. When an interim pastor suggested they review a book titled Healing the Heart of Your Church (Churchsmart, 2003) by Dr. Kenneth Quick, they politely and cautiously agreed.
What was supposed to be three evenings of review stretched into five draining nights of difficult discussions, painful realizations, repentance and eventual blessing. It took great effort to grasp that God prevents congregations from making progress until they learn the lessons He has for them. Why should this surprise us? How many years did Israel wander in the wilderness? We often encounter God’s discipline on a personal level. Why would it not be experienced in a corporate setting?
Corporate Renewal
During those nights, the church’s leadership faced the painful reality that a congregation’s vision can be undercut by past offenses. Who wants to believe a church may be its own stumbling block to progress? Startling as it may be to realize, the Lord of the Church will not violate His standards. When a local church has unresolved conflict or sin in its past, the likelihood for anointed ministry quickly dissipates.
Before the review was over, Emmanuel Fellowship’s leadership made another surprising discovery: God holds current leaders accountable for the failings of previous leaders. Consider the famine of 2 Samuel 21. When David sought the Lord, he discovered the famine’s ties to Saul’s sin against the Gibeonites. Something rooted in Saul’s reign literally affected the fruit during David’s. However, David was able to undo the damage and restore God’s blessing. David acted in Israel’s behalf as a mediator between Saul’s sin and God. In the same way, leaders today can stand before God on behalf of previous administrations’ offenses.
For Emmanuel Fellowship, this meant facing up to an undercurrent of strife resulting in three major crises in the church’s history. It meant repenting for allowing conflict to find a home in the heart of the church. It required writing letters of apology to a previous pastor and a denominational official. It called for confessing before God that the church had a problem with submission to authority. It meant holding a corporate renewal service where the congregation came within revival’s reach.
Consider the Root
We should not be shocked or surprised by the failings mentioned above. They run rampant in the Body of Christ and sometimes in our own hearts. The good news is that the Divine Gardener does not quickly throw barren fruit trees on the fire! His gracious patience often lasts far longer than the one year mentioned in Jesus’ parable. He is committed to His garden and wants every plant to thrive. Emmanuel Fellowship steps into the future as Hope Community Church. The members changed the name, symbolically breaking from the patterns of the past and looking ahead to a hopeful future. They have every reason to look forward to the Holy Spirit’s blessing and the fruit that springs from revitalized roots. Is it time to do a little digging in your garden? If there’s no fruit on the shoot, consider the root!
Rev. Mark Barnard served as interim pastor at Emmanuel Fellowship and now leads Blessing Point Ministries a non profit ministry promoting corporate healing and spiritual revitalization in local churches across the country and beyond. | |
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