Fruitless Ministry

Jesus came to find a fig tree in leaf. (Mark 11:12)

This fig tree gave an appearance of having much fruit, but as Jesus searched, he found none.
The incarnational Christ came to earth to bring Diety to humanity, although, what we see in this passage is His humanity, a limitation - He was hungry. However, the greater emphasis here is on the tree that had leafed prematurely. So much for appearances. According to this illustration "actions speak louder than words".

The two points of consideration should be the following: 1) The state of the present day evangelical church, and 2) Personal conversion. Both in need of fresh revelation. With the easterly winds of pluralism and relativity pressing hard against the sails of true Christian orthodoxy, we find, because of our embrace, a church quickly becoming shipwrecked. We are in great need of a second reformation, a revival of truth. With our post-modern methods of orthopraxy becoming the nucleus of our gathering, rather than the proclamation of the word, we have become much like this fig tree of old. As Jesus looks for fruit - He finds none.

The same can be said of some professing believers. To think, like many do, that mere intellectual assent is sufficient for salvation is no different than inviting unbelievers to church without offering them Jesus and His word. If the Word is what transforms a life ( Ps 1:2-3; John 14:17; 17:17) then we must scatter it faithfully, regardless of the outcome, with the final product being more on the lines of confessing rather than professing. Otherwise we may just as well be likened to this fruitless tree- cursed.