When Jesus talks about bearing fruit, he puts his disciples in an interesting spot. We are, at once, the host for the growth and yet not the source of the growth. It both gives and limits the responsibility we have in our work. So what do we do with that?

Often we struggle with being hosts for somebody else’s good works. Even if its God’s. And yet, at the same time, we can get so caught up in the methodology of our hosting that we aren’t trusting in God’s doing the work behind the scenes. Maybe we don’t know how to calibrate our expectations.

When I consider times of great growth, most have come when beautiful things happen precisely because we made generous choices, were attentive to a need, and made joy our priority. Joy produces far more spiritual fruit than our usual priorities: perfection, tradition, or what other people think.