Saturday, March 28, 2009
Fruit Inspecting
(Matthew 7:13-29)
One of the most oft-quoted verses in the Bible is Matthew 7:1—“Judge not, that ye be not judged.” Typically, this verse is used to silence criticism of any kind—particularly the evaluating of people. For example, if one states that so-and-so is not right with God because he is bartender, someone may piously chime in, “Judge not, lest...”
Those who quote 7:1 with such fondness need to look a little further in order to understand what Jesus is saying. In fact, Jesus’ warning is not against judging—discerning right from wrong. His warning involves using inconsistent standards of judgment, one for myself and a different—doubtless higher—standard for someone else (see 7:2-5).
In addition to consistent standards of discernment, Jesus taught that we can definitely know the character of an individual by the fruit he produces. In other words, believers should inspect fruit in order to determine the legitimacy of the source. False prophets, Jesus said, appear harmless; but their result is a vicious attack on the doctrines of the Bible (7:15). The only way to discern the false prophet from the true is his fruit. Godly men produce good fruit; ungodly men produce “evil” fruit.
Our age lacks discernment. Jesus enjoined His followers to be discerning—just be consistent in your standard of measurement and discern based on what you can see, the fruit of the life. Apples come from apple trees; oranges from orange trees; and the lemons of life always come from lemon trees!
