Unexpected Fruitfulness and Unexpected Purpose

Scripture — John 15:8 (NRSV)

My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.

Devotion

In yesterday’s Life for Leaders devotion, I suggested that one way to discern your purpose in life is by paying attention to your fruitfulness. Seeing clearly where and how you are bearing fruit that matters can help you receive, clarify, craft, and live your purpose. Then, if knowing your purpose helps you to live fruitfully, not only will this add meaning to your life, and not only will it serve your neighbors, but also God will be glorified (John 15:8). You might call this a win-win-win.

Sometimes our fruitfulness and our sense of purpose are in full, obvious alignment. My son-in-law, Jack, for example, has a strong sense of purpose in life related to creating educational opportunities for students who lack the advantages given to those of us in more affluent and socially advantaged communities. First as a teacher, and now as a leader in an educational nonprofit, there is a clear alignment between Jack’s purpose and his fruitfulness in life. (If you think I’m biased in Jack’s favor, well, I am. But a recent article in Vanderbilt University News makes the case more objectively.)

At times our purpose in life leads us to work that enables us to be fruitful. Jack’s case exemplifies this. But at other times our fruitfulness can help us discern our purpose, perhaps a purpose we weren’t even expecting.

That’s been my experience in one facet of my purpose, one that is particularly relevant to this devotion. I know I’ve written about this before, so please forgive me if this story is a bit redundant. People of my age like to tell stories more than once! More importantly, it serves as a good illustration of how fruitfulness can lead us to purpose.

I was a parish pastor for 25 years. During that time, I loved helping people grow in their relationship with the Lord and in their life of active discipleship. I did this mostly by preaching, teaching, praying, caring, and leading a thriving church. I did quite a bit of writing, mostly for books and my blog, but very little of my writing could be called “devotional.” If, in 2005, you were to tell me that 20 years later writing devotions would be central to my purpose in life and that I would have written well over 3,000 devotions, I would have thought your imagination was overactive. I had no interest in doing this sort of work. It wasn’t a facet of my life’s purpose, and I had no particular desire to make it so.

But when I began working at Laity Lodge, my colleague Dan asked if I wanted to write “a few devotions” for the High Calling website. I said I’d be glad to do this, mainly to support Dan and his work. So, I wrote a couple of weeks’ worth of devotions. Surprisingly, I heard from many recipients of these devotions that they were helpful. So, I wrote a few more. Once again, I heard from several people who said my devotions helped them in their faith and discipleship. Before long, I found myself writing seven devotions every week. This work had become central, not only to my job at Laity Lodge, but also to my sense of my purpose in life. What began so many years ago continues to this day.

Why did writing devotions, something I had never imagined doing with my life, become so central to my purpose? It wasn’t because I had a passion for devotion writing, let me assure you. Yes, I did sense God’s leading in this matter. And I was affirmed by my community of purpose. But by far the most influential factor for me was fruitfulness. Through my devotional writing, I was able to help people grow in their relationship with the Lord and in their life of active discipleship. God was growing abundant fruit in the lives of hundreds of people through the devotions I was writing. This unexpected fruitfulness helped me know that writing devotions was becoming central to my purpose and calling. Today, I do have a passion for writing Life for Leaders devotions. But this passion came only after fruitfulness helped me clarify this aspect of my life’s purpose.

I mentioned above my “community of discernment,” people who know me well and whom I trust. They helped me figure out how devotional writing fits into my overall purpose in life. But they’re not the only people who have had a key part in my fulfilling this facet of my purpose. Many others make Life for Leaders possible. I’m thinking, first of all, of the team of people at the De Pree Center who take what I have written and turn it into Life for Leaders every week. Jennifer and Chelsea do a great job editing, scheduling, posting, and emailing. They are also excellent writers, by the way, part of the gifted writing team that enables me to keep going at the sustainable rate of three devotions per week. Michaela, the De Pree Center’s Executive Director, is a visionary leader, supporter, and encourager of this work. Plus, she takes responsibility for raising donor support for Life for Leaders as part of the overall De Pree Center mission. Having said this, I should also mention that I am thankful for the dozens and dozens of Life for Leaders subscribers who support our work each year through their financial gifts. Finally, throughout the last ten years, there have been literally hundreds of readers who have emailed me with their questions, comments, and affirmations. They keep me going.

I mention all of those who help to make Life for Leaders happen, not only to be polite, but also to emphasize that my fruitfulness as an individual is not something I produce on my own. I am not a solitary grapevine, growing all by myself. And neither are you. Rather, we are branches on the vine of Christ. Our fruitfulness is a result of our connection to Christ and, through Christ, to the other branches, that is, the people of Christ.

Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Fruitful Living, Part 1.