Abide #3

Movement One – Introduction

Here’s the first way to drink hot tea. Place the tea bag on a spoon, firmly tie the string attached to the tea bag around the spoon and the bag itself, then gently but vigorously dip the spoon and bag up and down in the water. This type of person we will call “The Dipper.” When you are a dipper, a lot of human effort is required. A lot of Christians function like that: they dip in on Sundays, they dip in on groups like the student ministry, and they may dip in mid-week with a ministry, mission, or experience. This way takes a lot of work and action on your part.

There’s another way to drink tea: set the tea bag in the hot water and let it soak. This person, we will call “The Soaker.” An amazing thing happens without much effort for the soaker: the water begins to change just because of the influence of the bag in the hot water. This second way is a lot like abiding. Instead of dipping in and out, the Christian soaks in and absorbs the goodness of Jesus. The transformation just happens. When you are abiding, the water changes by itself.

Jesus wants you to abide in Him. Abiding in Jesus means that we are connected to Jesus just as a branch is connected to the Vine. Jesus is the connection to God, the Father. We connect directly through Jesus in a deep and powerful kind of way. Abiding in this connectedness with Jesus means that Jesus transforms us, and fruit is produced because of this connected relationship with Jesus. Abiding requires surrender and submission. Abiding means we let Jesus steep in our lives. As we abide in Jesus, we can watch the transformation gradually happen without much human effort at all.

Today we are going to address these questions: what happens when someone does not abide in Jesus? What is God’s, the Vinedresser’s, response when a branch does not abide?

Today we are going to talk about what God does with a rotten branch. Let’s open our Bibles to our familiar passage in .

John 15:6–7 CSB

6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned. 7 If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you want and it will be done for you.

Identifying Soul Rot

Let’s talk just a little about something I am going to call “soul rot” today. What is soul rot? I think all of us have had an experience of physical rot.

Left alone to our own devices, we restrict and even stop the flow of nourishment from the Vine as we separate ourselves in our following of Jesus. We are “prone to wander,” as the old song, “Come Thou Fount,” says, and get lost under the van seats of life.

My wife tells of a story in which we lost one of our girls’ sippy cups containing white grape juice in our van. One day while getting back into the van with her sister and the girls, she heard a comment from the back in which Sophia said, “Mommy, I found my cup.” Before Tiffini could warn her or ask her to send it forward, Sophia opened the top, which triggered an explosion from the pressure formed from the fermented juice. The entire contents spilled all over Sophia. Tiffini says that the stench was so horrendous they had to keep the doors and windows open on the ten-minute back drive back home to fumigate the van from the soured stench of the spoiled and rotten juice in the cup.

Soul rot is a lot like that. Left alone to our own devices, we restrict and even stop the flow of nourishment from the Vine as we separate ourselves in our following of Jesus. We are “prone to wander,” as the old song, “Come Thou Fount,” says, and get lost under the van seats of life.

Remember: following Jesus means that we abide constantly.

Soul rot happens due to a disconnection or a lack of abiding in the Vine. Rot can happen when we choose anything other than Jesus. Rot can happen as the result of unchecked and unrepentant sin. Rot can also happen as a result of an unhealthy response to a circumstance, like when we choose not to forgive someone.

Knowing how rot can happen is important, and we also need to know how to identify the presence of rot. What does soul rot look like?

Soul rot can be identified stagnation, lack of fruit, an odor, or a discoloration in the branch. The beginning stages of rot are not always as visible or easily identifiable. Anytime there is stagnation, rot is practically inevitable. Anyone who been around a pool or a pond knows that there is trouble either when the water stops flowing in or the water stops circulating out. An indicator of the beginning stages of rot would be the presence of stagnation. This stagnation could be present as apathy, a lack of passion, lukewarm-ness, or being okay with the way things are.

As rot continues, there are additional indicators of its presence. Just as the liquid in the sippy cup had a foul odor and a discoloration, spiritual rot also begins to show externally through these same avenues. Spiritual rot can be evidenced in a person by a person’s stinky bad attitude, short temper, a tendency to retreat or escape, a lack of compassion, sinful or disobedient tendencies, and rebellion.

Beyond this stench, Jesus gives us a very easy way to identify the presence of soul rot: look at the fruit. Fruit is the external evidence of what God is doing on the inside.

The proof is in the fruit! Ask yourself: is fruit present? Is the fruit healthy? Are disciples being made because of the person’s connection with Jesus? Are those who are being influenced by a person also producing fruit?

The proof is in the fruit.

Preventing and Addressing Soul Rot

God does not want rot in the branches. God cannot allow rot and disease to be present. As we talked about last week, an abiding connection to the Vine means that the words of Jesus have cleansing power in our lives. Jesus purifies and cleanses us as we abide in Him. Having the connection with Jesus open allows the vital nourishment and nutrients of Jesus to flow in our lives. Soul rot is prevented as we leave the flow open wide in our lives. Preventing soul rot is easy as we are proactive in allowing God to address sin and disobedience in our lives.

Preventing soul rot means we allow Jesus’ words to cleanse and purify us from the inside out. Addressing soul rot as it happens also means that we are honest with ourselves. We need to admit the rot present in our lives and ask God to bring healing to our souls. Ignoring the rot will only increase the disease.

There is a great warning here, however, if we do not allow God to address the rot present in our lives.

I want to ask you this question, and I need you to hear Jesus’ response: can someone be cut out of the Vine? Yes. Jesus says so here. People normally cut themselves out of the vine due to their lack of abiding in Jesus. When a branch has not produced fruit because of a lack of connection to the vine, that branch will dry up, become brittle, and break off from the source. If a branch continues to be connected to the vine while it is diseased or unhealthy, other branches are at risk of being affected because of their connection or their proximity to the unhealthy branch.

When rot has fully overtaken, God takes invasive action for the sake of the health of the whole vine. To the un-abiding branches, Jesus says that God throws or casts down these branches into a pile for burning. Uncontrolled soul rot requires invasive action from God as God cuts out the rot. This process can seem a lot like pruning, but the purpose is not the same. Pruning cuts back overgrowth and overextension. Cutting off branches is a last resort effort done by God when all other options are exhausted.

God is the one who takes the action towards an unhealthy branch, but what is the fellow follower of Jesus’ responsibility towards an unhealthy follower? In other words, what is the responsibility of one branch to another unhealthy branch?

Spiritually mature branches in Jesus are sometimes brought to an opportunity of addressing the lack of health in other branches. This mutual accountability is found in…

James 5:19–20 CSB

19 My brothers and sisters, if any among you strays from the truth, and someone turns him back, 20 let that person know that whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

And it is also found in

Hebrews 10:25 CSB

25 not neglecting to gather together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day approaching.

Practically speaking, what should your response be toward a fellow brother or sister branch who is unhealthy and/or diseased because of soul rot? What do you do when someone around you is unhealthy?

A branch’s response to an unhealthy branch must be done with care, be directed by prayer, and protect itself. As God leads, we can make an attempt to help an unhealthy branch as God leads. Because we care about one another and are connected like a body one to another, the individual health of a brother or sister matters to the family of God as a whole and to me personally. We act out of concern as we pray for one another and support one another in love. Confrontations only happen as God leads after much prayer. This step of concern must be taken with caution as we check our intentions. We must approach other branches with humility and care, not with judgment.

Another response for the sake of the health of the whole Vine is for us to be careful to protect ourselves when a lack of health is present in someone else’s life. In other words, sometimes we need to isolate the lack of health in the whole Vine by not allowing someone else’s unhealthiness to feed us. Remember: we are not connected to other branches as our source of nourishment, so we have to be careful that someone else’s lack of health is not also feeding into us. Practically speaking, sometimes we have to accomplish this protection of our own soul branch by distancing ourselves in proximity to another unhealthy branch.

Movement Five: Closing Challenge

Jesus’ words to us may sound harsh and painful, but His words are clear:

John 15:6 CSB

6 If anyone does not remain in me, he is thrown aside like a branch and he withers. They gather them, throw them into the fire, and they are burned.

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So are Jesus’ words earlier in this passage, “[be] clean because of the word that I have spoken to you” ().

John 15:3b CSB

3 You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.

This is exactly what it means to be a Christian: abide in Jesus. Remain in the Savior. Stay connected to the Source of Life itself.

As we close, I would invite you to prayerfully consider your connectedness to the Vine.

Are you connected to the Vine? If not, get connected and begin to abide by following Jesus today.

Are you abiding and remaining in Jesus? In other words, is your connectedness with Jesus producing fruit? Remember: the proof is in the fruit.

Do you stink because of soul rot? Is there unchecked sin or unaddressed rot in your soul? Do the hard thing and address your rot before it overtakes your branch.

You are never too far from God to return to Him. No matter how distanced you feel, God is right there with you. Hear the Good News as we close:

Let’s pray.