A large mass of sticks, leaves, apples, and branches twisted into a tree stood before me. I was set to the task of pruning this old and grotesque object. I could hardly tell it was a tree until I drew near enough to see its trunk between all the hanging branches. Clearly, it had not been pruned in many years, and although there were many apples weighing down the branches, they were bitter and too small to enjoy. Summer felt like the wrong season to prune this tree with so much fruit crowding its branches, but I could hear my farmer-friend’s voice saying, “Prune when the shearers are sharp.” I had my loppers in hand, but I found myself perplexed with where to begin. I took a deep breath, maneuvered the loppers in between the branches, and made the first cut. A heavy branch covered in fruit fell to the ground.
The Church in America is like this tree. It has overgrown without the Farmer’s care. The pruning has been forcibly withheld to promote extra fruit to grow, no matter what quality the fruit possesses. Church leaders have allowed unhealthiness to exist and pervade the church, even all kinds of abuse, in order to produce maximum fruit. God has not been invited in regularly to prune as the Church has grown, but instead, He has been held back so ministries can grow and produce. But, just as the apple tree was eventually pruned, God has also stepped in and He has begun His own pruning process.
Historians and sociologists, among others, have opened our eyes to see the extent of our dead branches and bitter fruit. It’s as if we are now looking plainly at the tree. The Church stands before us. The question is: Where does the church go from here?
