Church planters love to build. We build teams, systems, websites, budgets, volunteer pipelines, discipleship pathways, and Sunday gatherings. Much of our time is spent thinking about what comes next and how to prepare for it. None of that is wrong. Faithful ministry requires thoughtful planning and wise stewardship. The danger is that, over time, building can quietly replace abiding.
I’ve caught myself doing it more than once. I’ll spend an hour refining a strategy, preparing a meeting, or solving a ministry problem while giving only a few hurried moments to prayer. Somewhere along the way, I begin assuming that if I work hard enough and plan carefully enough, God will simply bless what I’ve already decided to do. That’s usually when John 15 comes back to confront me.
Jesus is preparing His disciples for life after His departure. Within hours He will be arrested. Soon He will ascend to the Father, leaving the spread of the gospel in the hands of ordinary men. If there was ever a moment to deliver a master class on leadership strategy or organizational structure, this was it. Instead, Jesus gives them a picture.
“Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you… apart from me you can do nothing.”
John 15:4-5
I don’t think we stop long enough to feel the weight of those words. Jesus doesn’t say we can do less without Him or that ministry becomes more difficult apart from Him. He says, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” That’s either one of the strongest overstatements in Scripture or one of its most profound truths. The longer I’ve served in ministry, the more convinced I’ve become that Jesus meant exactly what He said.
Of course, someone will immediately object. “People accomplish incredible things without following Christ.” That’s true. Businesses grow. Organizations flourish. Movements gain momentum. Churches can fill buildings. Activity is possible apart from Christ.
Fruit is not.
Jesus isn’t talking about activity. He’s talking about fruit that lasts. Transformed lives. Growing disciples. Genuine repentance. Increasing holiness. Deeper love for God and neighbor. Those things cannot be manufactured through better systems or stronger leadership. They are produced by the life of Christ flowing through people who remain connected to Him.
Activity is possible apart from Christ. Fruit is not.
That’s why I think one of the most dangerous seasons in ministry isn’t failure. It’s success. Success has a subtle way of convincing us that our methods are sufficient. We begin trusting the strategy because it worked before. We rely on experience instead of dependence. Little by little, abiding becomes assumed rather than pursued.
Jesus describes the branch differently. It has one responsibility: remain connected to the vine. Everything else flows from that relationship. Fruit is never the branch’s achievement. It is simply the evidence that the branch is alive and connected to its source.
That conviction shaped one of the simplest exercises in Built on Purpose. Rather than asking church planting teams to develop another ministry strategy, I ask them to spend a week intentionally praying for a specific group of people or a particular place in their community. The purpose isn’t merely to check off another spiritual discipline. It’s to rediscover dependence. I’ve found that sustained prayer changes more than the people I’m praying for. It changes me. God begins reshaping my desires, correcting my assumptions, and helping me see opportunities I would have otherwise overlooked.
I’ve also noticed something else. The leaders who seem to make the deepest kingdom impact are rarely the ones who appear the most self-confident. More often, they’re the ones who have learned how deeply they need Christ. Their dependence is the very thing that makes their ministry fruitful.
Perhaps that’s the lesson Jesus wanted His disciples to remember above all else. Before you preach, organize, lead, plant, or build anything, abide. The work you’re called to do is ultimately His work. The fruit you’re longing to see is ultimately His fruit.
Our responsibility is simply to remain connected to the Vine.
Do you know how God has shaped you and your team for His mission?
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