One of the biggest problems with religion is that it focuses on the fruit rather than the root.

Remember the parable Jesus told about the gardner who found the tree that wasn’t bearing any fruit and he was going to dig it up and burn it? The owner said to dig around the root and fertilize it and give it another chance. And it did bear fruit eventually.

This is about trust. We need to trust that if the root is good the fruit will be as well.

I know this is difficult for some of us, but it is okay to just work on our root… to linger, wait and watch. We’ve been told that it is navel-gazing, selfish and takes too long. Get to work! NOW! My last church was constantly accused of being a church that just sat by the phone waiting for a call that never came. But I saw powerful fruit being produced in the lives of our members that wasn’t the result of vision-casting, mission statement, or program. Members of TLS who were members of my church can attest to this.

My advice has always been to stop trying to bear fruit. Just tend to your root and I promise that the fruit will magically appear… naturally, organically, and bountifully. There will be no strain.

Good root = good fruit. Always.