A question came up during one of our leadership meetings sometime ago; “Who is better, a pastor who is cutting corners and the church is growing, or another who is faithfully doing the work and there is no commensurate growth?” After listening to all the comments and contributions, I told our people; “None is to be desired. God wants us to be both faithful and fruitful.”
Friend, faithfulness, and fruitfulness are not mutually exclusive. That is, you can be faithful and frutiful at the same time. Faithfulness must not be given as an excuse for fruitlessness (1 Kings 19:14-18). We must beware of teachings that talk about faithfulness while downplaying on fruitfulness, or one that assumes that faithfulness will automatically guarantee fruitfulness.
Faithfulness does not automatically guarantee fruitfulness (2 Peter 1:1-10). Stop labelling people unfaithful because they are generating results. Not everyone who is succeeding is cutting corners somewhere. Not everyone driving brand new cars is fraudulent. Not all pastors of mega churches are lowering stands for people. Not every beautiful lady is sleeping around.
Whereas faithfulness comes first in dealing with God, fruitfulness is also non-negotiable. The parable of the talents already revealed that our judgement would also be on the basis of our fruitfulness; we must be good (fruitful) and faithful servants (Matthew 25:19-21). In fact, the servant who “faithfully” kept what he was given was shown the way to hell (Matthew 25:24-30).
We would be judged not only by our faithfulness but also by our fruitfulness. The Master who told us to occupy till He comes is sure expecting results from the investment of His grace on our lives (Luke 19:13). God wants us to conduct our lives in a way that honours Him. He also wants us to generate results. They are not mutually exclusive. Faithful people should seek to be fruitful. It does not happen automatically (2 Peter 1:5-8).
While faithfulness is a matter of integrity, fruitfulness is a matter of skill (Psalms 78:70-72). Skills are not divine donations. They are humanly acquired. Faithful people should develop skills in generating results. People management, selling skills, personal leadership, financial management, systems building, communication skills, etc., are all important skills for fruitfulness. What skills do you need to develop today?
‘Demola Awoyele
Lead Pastor,
Destiny Impact Church
Akure, Nigeria