A Reflection on Good Trees and Rotten Trees

 "Pay attention to keep away from the false prophets, such ones as come to you with the clothing of sheep, yet from inside they are plundering wolves. You will know them by observation from their fruits. They don't collect bunches of grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles, do they? Thus every single good tree makes beautiful fruits, yet the rotten tree makes deranged fruits. A good tree can't make deranged fruits neither a rotten tree make beautiful fruits. Every single tree not making a beautiful fruit is cut down and is thrown into the fire. Therefore at least, you will know them by observation from their fruits." Matthew 7:15-20

     I've been reflecting on this passage in Matthew on and off over the last while. The first question I have to ask when looking at it is, what does the fruit which I make look like? Does it look like the fruit of the Spirit of Christ as Paul described it in Galatians 5? Or is it deranged, full of envy, anger, fear, hatred, discord, and so on? The beautiful fruit must be the life of Jesus Christ flowing within and out through me to all those around me so that what people taste when they experience it is Him. The deranged fruit however is what comes from the rotten tree, that is, what comes from my own natural experiences, behaviors, neurology, and so on. This tree is rotten and diseased, and can only produce diseased fruit.

     The language Jesus uses here is similar to the language in John 15 where he talks about being the Vine and His disciples the branches, and the necessity of remaining in or making one's home in Him in order to produce fruit, because apart from Him we can do nothing. He also gives the same illustration about what happens to those branches that don't remain in Him, they wilt, they dry up, and then they are thrown into the fire where they are burned.

     In the course of my posts and comments, I have been called heretic, cultist, false prophet, and more. I'm sure I'm not the only one as many of us tend to become passionate when others disagree on teachings we hold as important. When I am called these things, I have to ask myself, am I or am I not producing Jesus Christ for people to experience and encounter? Can they or can they not see Jesus in me, or hear Jesus in my words? "My sheep hear My voice, and they follow Me."

     There are many teachings and doctrines which we disagree on, many of them very minor, and some of them not so minor. But at the end of the day, what defines a Christian is whether or not Jesus Christ can be seen and heard through them, not what denominational theology they profess. A disciple of Jesus Christ is defined by whether or not they live as He taught, and walk as He walked, not by whether they are Calvinist, Arminian, Catholic, Orthodox, or Messianic Jewish.

     I can only judge whether I am on the right Path or not by whether or not people are able to experience Jesus Christ through me. Either I walk the Way He walked, or I don't. Either the fruit I produce is from His tree, His vine, or it is from my own rotten one. And at the end of the day, this determines whether what I follow and what I teach others to follow is truly from that good tree and true Vine. 

     I would encourage you who read this as it gets late here in Kentucky to reflect on what kind of tree your own fruit is coming from, and whether it tastes of Jesus Christ or something rotten.