Trees and Fruit

An excellent opportunity to apply the teachings of the narrow road comes in the very next passage. The road to salvation is a narrow one. What Jesus is about to say is that those that widen it are false teachers. This conclusion is consistent with the theme of this part of Jesus' sermon that we actually have to put our faith into practice.

 ¹⁵ “Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really vicious wolves. ¹⁶ You can identify them by their fruit, that is, by the way they act. Can you pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? ¹⁷ A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. ¹⁹ So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.       Matthew 7:15-20

Wait a minute. Didn't Jesus just tell us not to judge others (Matt 7:1)? This is another perfect example of the type of balance I discussed in my last post. The Bible is not being inconsistent here. It is an opportunity to grow in maturity and understanding. Since this passage is talking about church leadership (False Prophets/False Teachers), let's look at this in terms of the church and its dealings with sin.

Ditch on the left: Jesus tells us not to judge people. We just need to love and accept everyone for who God made them. Some people are born to love people of their same sex. That's wonderful - they are welcome to be who they are in our church. They can even be in leadership and teach our children! Some couples want to live together and try things out before they get married. That's great - we think people should be free to make whatever choices they see fit.

Ditch on the right: God hates homosexuals. They are an abomination - it says so in scripture - we'll know them by their fruit! These people living together before they're married - they're going to hell. In fact, most of you are dirty, filthy sinners and are going to hell!

When I put it in extremes like that, it's easy to see the error in both sides. How does scripture instruct us in this? How do we know the edge of the ditch when dealing with sin in the church? On the 'right' side we're driving people away by not loving them where they are. On the 'left' side we're allowing people to continue down the wide path that will send them to hell, without so much as a warning.

A proper understanding of what it means to "judge" is a good place to start. When Jesus tells us not judge others, in the original Biblical language, Greek, it comes from the word "krino", which means to pronounce judgement. We know from other uses of the word in the New Testament that it usually means to determine salvation or the lack of it in someone. In this sense, what is forbidden is to pronounce final judgement on someone. There are several reasons why we shouldn't do this. First, it puts us in the place of the judge and we are not qualified to do that because we are not without sin. Second, it ignores the redemptive power of God to change a person. How can you make a final judgement on someone when they can still repent and change?

We are to discern fruit, though. When a professing Christian is living in habitual sin, the spiritual authority in his life has a duty to bring it to their attention.

¹⁵ “If your brother or sister^[b] sins,^[c] go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. ¹⁶ But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’^{[d] 17} If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.           Matthew 18:15-17

 How did Jesus treat the pagan and tax collector? He loved them and accepted them and tried to bring them to Himself. We have to accept people where they are. We're not doing anyone any favors by allowing them to stay there, though.

One final word on judging the fruit of prophets and teachers. Teachers that are too inclusive and allow for other ways to heaven except through the sacrifice of Jesus are false. How do we judge whether they've gone out of bounds (into the ditch)? It is by their fruit - by what their ministry is producing. Are sinners finding Christ? Are believers growing in the Lord? If so, they are producing good fruit. A bad tree cannot produce good fruit (Matt 7:18).