You're Fired?
/“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away;…”
- John 15:2
I am my own worst critic. I’m harder on myself than anyone else could ever be. I’ve led non-profits for years. Yet, I still stress out before every board meeting. I’m not afraid of answering for anything I’ve actually done, but for what I could have done but didn’t. You can always do more. People at the end of their life fret more over what they didn’t do than they fret over what they did. There is always more to be done. Right?
There is a part of me with insecurity that fears the day I hear the words I so often feel I deserve, “You’re fired!” I worry and stress that people will judge me against what was possible for me to do. I fear they will find the shortcomings I see in myself, and I will be found wanting.
I don’t think I’m alone. I know I’m not. It is this insecurity that makes a passage like John 15:2 terrifying; “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” This is talking to Christians. Those “in Christ” and saved. It reminds me of the doctrine I grew up with (but never agreed with) that basically states, “Once saved, always saved, unless you do something bad enough and then you might not have been saved in the first place.” Then, out the back door of the church you go.
Our salvation and redemption are based on the finished work of Christ, period. To be “in Christ” is to accept the unmerited gift of grace. Therefore, nothing you can do can make Him love you more, nor can anything you do make Him love you less. An unmerited gift cannot be amended based on merit.
So, where does this leave us with this verse? Are we endanger of being fired from Christianity? Is our lack of “fruit” going to end in us being “cut off” or “take away”? I will encourage you to look at your Bible. You will notice a reference mark in it along with the words “takes away.” Those words are equally translated as “lifts up.”
The very context of the verse precludes the idea of those bearing no fruit being cut off from the vine. The full verse reads (changing the words to the equally acceptable translation), “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He lifts up, and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.” To cut it way would be pruning as detailed in the second half of the verse. So, what is this lifting up?
Occasionally, in a vineyard, a branch will drop down onto the ground in the muck. When this happens, if a node of the branch comes in contact with the ground, within months, that node will start growing roots and form a new independent vine. To counter this, the vinedresser will lift up the fallen branch and tie it to a support. He will clean it and remove all the dirt. Because if it is utilizing its energy to produce roots of independence, it cannot produce fruit.
This is the context of the verse. It is not a ultimatum dependent on the works in your life. It is a explanation for the trails we face in this world. Those in Christ who bear fruit, He will prune in order to bring them to completion in Him. Those who do not bear fruit, He will lift up. He will shake up their lives and detach them from the roots they are trying to establish in this world so they can see who they were created to be.
Many use this verse (and others) to become fruit inspectors. To evaluate their own lives or that of others. In doing so, they miss the point. It is not about fruit! It is about being connected to the Vine!
As Jesus continues in the passage, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in Him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.” (John 15:5)
The entire passage is directed to those who are in Christ. However, the lifting and pruning are meant to disconnect us from our love of the world so that we can bear fruit? And what is that fruit? It is only one thing: Christ in us and living through us. Period. The outward expression of that doesn’t really matter. The only thing that matters is whether or not you are in Christ, He is in you, and He is working through your life. With that you have everything, without it you have nothing.
Fear not coming to the Lord under any circumstances. He is not looking for a reason to fire you! Rather, he wants to abide with you (to live with you in every moment). Maybe you need to be lifted up today and unrooted from the world. Maybe you need some pruning in your life where you are expending energy that is not beneficial. Maybe you are struggling with regret thinking of all that you could have done that you didn’t. Take it to the Lord. Without Him, you can do nothing!
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NOTE: Why do most Bibles translate it as “takes away”? The word used in the passage is αἴρει (airei). It has a wide semantic range that includes “takes away,” “removes,” “cuts off,” “lifts up,” “raising,” or “picking up.” Context clues within the passage are required to determine which of these it actually infers. Unfortunately, due to a strong emphasis in historical Christianity to control behavior, especially during the medieval period, most interpretations have landed on “takes away.” Thus, it stands as a warning and a threat. I, however, disagree with this take and see that interpretation as a contradiction in theology regarding the finished work of Christ and grace. There is only one work we must do: “This is the work of God, that you believe in Him whom He sent.” (John 6:29) That one work will change you forever as the living Lord lives through you. The real key to the passage is understanding “takes away” from what? Most people assume it means the vine, but could equally mean the ground. He “takes away” the branch from the ground, lifts up, removes it from the ground, cuts it off from the ground or picks it up from the ground. When you consider what it is separated from, the vine only works with a couple of the terms, but in reference to the ground the entire semantic range works equally. Thus, I settle on “lifts up”
© 2026 Warren Martin. All rights Reserved.
