By Kirk Reynolds
kirk.reynolds@navigators.org

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing” (John 15:5 NIV).

Early in September, Janis and I took a detour on our way to seeing her folks and stopped at Crane’s Orchard in Fennville, Michigan. Janis wanted to get a basket of Honeycrisp apples for homemade apple pies. So we stopped and they eagerly guided us to the Honeycrisp trees, which, to our surprise, were all dwarf trees. All of the apples on the trees were pickable from the ground: at arms reach; no ladders needed. Within minutes we had our basket full and were amazed at how easy it was to pick these low hanging apples.

When I talk to others who are working to reach the Nations of the world, we often talk about the difficulty of reaching those who know little, if anything, about the Kingdom of God and the saving grace of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The common expression we use is reaching the “high hanging fruit.” Like apple trees, the high, seemingly unreachable apples are not easily collected, while the “low hanging fruit” are ripe and ready for the taking. It’s easy to pick the “low hanging fruit” from the ground, but the higher apples are much more difficult to obtain. To reach the “high hanging fruit” you need ladders, ropes, and buckets. Even then, on a ladder you still might only be able to reach a few apples. And, with every step higher you go on the ladder, there is a greater risk of injury and possible lack of success.

Can I get a ladder over here? Reaching the “high hanging fruit.”

Here are a few qualities among the rungs of a Kingdom Ladder:

  1. A strong practice of prevailing prayer – “apart from me you can do nothing.” You must call on the power of the Holy Spirit to change lives.
  2. A good understanding of Scripture – able to communicate a pure gospel without Western baggage.
  3. An incarnational movement – live among them, learn from them, love them. Christ moved into ourneighborhood.
  4. A good handle on the birth language and the cultural of those you are trying to reach.
  5. A link or a bridge connecting the body of Christ with the local community.
  6. And, able to envision a plan for the Gospel to advance in culture.