THE PURPOSE OF AN APPLE TREE IS NOT TO PRODUCE APPLES

Several years ago, I attended a Church Growth seminar. The speaker began by asking us a simple question. “What is the purpose of an apple tree?” We were all sure we knew the answer, and several people quickly spoke up. “To produce apples,” they said. The speaker replied, “No, The purpose of an apple tree is to produce other apple trees.” Then he asked, “What is the purpose of a Christian?” The answer was, to produce more Christian. Although this is not the only purpose of a Christian, and producing other apple trees may not be the only purpose of an apple tree, he had a good point.

In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus said,

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.

Here Jesus tells us to go and teach others to follow him. Today, those who follow Jesus Christ are called “Christians.” So, one of our duties as Christians is to produce other Christians. Have you ever noticed that sinners produce other sinners? People who drink and do drugs always try to entice others to do the same, thus reproducing. They’re always talking about how drunk, or stoned they got over the weekend or last night, and they’re always inviting others to join them the next time.

In this way, they draw others into their circle, and another alcoholic or drug addict is born. For many years this has been very effective. As Christians, we need to recognize this. We should be doing something similar. We should tell people about our relationship with Jesus and our experiences at church, and invite them to join us the next time. This is the example shown in the Bible by Jesus and his followers. Too often, Christians try to tell other people what they are doing wrong and why they need to change, but that’s the wrong approach. The main thing we need to focus on is introducing people to Jesus.

In John 1:41, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, demonstrated the perfect model when he first met Jesus. He went and told his brother, “We’ve found the Messiah.” Then he brought him to meet Jesus. Phillip did the same thing after meeting Jesus. He went and told Nathaniel, “We’ve found the one Moses wrote about in the law, and the prophets, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” Then he invited him to come and meet Jesus, too.

In John chapter 4, the Samaritan woman, who met Jesus at the well, went and told the people in her city about him. Then she invited them to “come and see” him, and they all came to the well and met him there.

You’ll notice something interesting in verses 39 and 41. The Bible says that many of the Samaritans believed in Jesus because of the words the woman from the well had told them, but many more believed when they met Jesus for themselves.

Again, this is the model for fulfilling the great commission which Jesus gave us before he went back to heaven. This is how we make Disciples or reproduce Christians.

Matthew 28:19-20
19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:
20 Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the world.

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