Leading With an Ordered Heart: Day 3

JOHN 15:4-5

Jesus reinforced this dependence of human life and divine relationship in a stark assertion, “I am the vine, you are the branches, apart from me you can do nothing.” The freedom to live apart from God, in defiance or neglect or indifference, never implies the ability to succeed or flourish apart from him. Everything that is separated from God withers, like a plant deprived of water in the desert. Christian involvement in the work of society, in spheres of life, is crucial, lest they gradually come to exist in a futile independence. Institutions and activities that cease to have a referent beyond themselves cannot address the hard problems of existence with the faith and hope they require, and will move between an unreal self-confidence and a devastating despair. Politics, education, the arts—they all depend, finally, on inspiration and insight that lives beyond their own perspectives.

What do you make of Jesus’ assertion?

Tags: leading, ordered