Know Them By Their Fruit (pt. 2)

 “By their fruit you will recognize them.”
- Matthew 7:16

In last week’s column, we looked at how to recognize a false teacher. In Matthew 7:16 and again in v. 20, Jesus tells us that we can recognize false teachers “by their fruit”—by observing the lives they live. But sometimes that’s easier said than done. Many churches are too big for us to get to know our pastor on a personal basis. And we can’t see what our church elders are doing behind closed doors. What we see on Sunday mornings looks good, but how can we know for sure whether or not our church leaders are false teachers peddling false teaching?

Well, you might not be able to see the rotten fruit in a false teacher’s personal life, but if you put in a little effort, you can see the rotten fruit in his teaching. Theologian William Barclay points out some red flags of false teaching in the church. I’ll highlight three of them.

Red Flag #1: Teaching is false if it focuses primarily on the observance of external religion. Barclay writes, “It is possible—and indeed not uncommon—to teach that religion consists of going to Church, observing the Lord’s Day, fulfilling one’s financial obligations to the Church, reading one’s Bible. A man might do all these things and be far off from being a Christian, for Christianity is an attitude of the heart to God and to man.”

So, when you’re thinking of joining a church, I encourage you to listen to a bunch of the pastor’s sermons online and attend at least a few Bible studies. If almost all of the teaching is focused on the external, and there is very little said about the sin in our hearts, that’s a red flag—because our faith is lived from the inside out. There is no excuse for any church to neglect teaching about our hearts, our souls and our spirits. That’s a sign of false teaching. That’s an indication of rotten fruit. Find another church.

Red Flag #2. Teaching is false if it focuses primarily on “Thou Shalt Nots.” As Barclay puts it, “There is a type of teacher who says to a [new] Christian: ‘From now on you will no longer go to the cinema; from now on you will no longer dance; from now on you will no longer smoke or use make-up; from now on you will never enter a theatre.’ If a man could become a Christian simply by abstaining from doing things Christianity would be a much easier religion than it is. But the whole essence of Christianity is that it does not consist in not doing things; it consists in doing things.”

Like most Christians, I don’t think followers of Christ should be dropping “F-bombs,” drinking Jack Daniels every weekend and watching every R-rated movie that hits the theaters. But there are plenty of people who never drop F-bombs, never drink hard liquor and never watch smutty movies—and they’re still headed for hell. How is that possible? It’s possible because “clean living” doesn’t save you. Jesus saves you. And Jesus only saves you if you follow Him. And following Jesus has never been primarily about what you DON’T do. It’s primarily about what you DO do: trusting Him, loving Him, and obeying Him. And here’s the kicker: As you trust, love and obey Jesus Christ, you will naturally NOT do the things that grieve His heart. You will naturally NOT do things that are sinful.

Following Christ naturally leads to NOT sinning—but it doesn’t work in reverse. NOT sinning doesn’t naturally lead to trusting, loving and obeying Christ. So, if a pastor or Bible teacher is constantly preaching “Thou shalt not” messages and is ignoring the call of Christ to trust, to love and to actively do what Jesus would do, that’s a red flag. That’s a sign of legalism and false teaching. It’s an indication of rotten fruit. Find another church.

Red Flag #3. Teaching is false if it tries to convince people that following Christ is easy. Barclay writes, “Any teaching which takes the Cross out of Christianity, any teaching which eliminates the threat from the voice of Christ, any teaching which pushes judgment into the background and makes men think lightly of sin, is false teaching.”

I get really concerned when pastors eliminate the words sin, repentance, judgment and hell from their sermons. For me, that’s a major red flag. Nobody loves a positive, uplifting message more than Jesus. But the problem is, in an attempt to be “positive” and “uplifting,” far too many pastors and teachers water down the gospel and ignore some of the most important teachings of the New Testament. And do you know what a watered-down gospel is? A watered-down gospel is no gospel at all. So, if a pastor’s teaching is always easy on your ears, easy on your conscience and makes it easy to keep living the same ol’ way you’ve been living, that’s a red flag. That’s a sign of false teaching. That’s an indication of rotten fruit. Find another church.

Some of Jesus’ teachings are really, really hard. And that narrow road to heaven is a hard road. When God’s word is faithfully preached, it doesn’t tickle your itching ears. Instead, God’s word corrects. It rebukes. And it encourages you to turn from your sin and follow Christ with all your heart, mind, soul and strength.

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our in-person worship service Sundays at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on the Impact Christian Church YouTube channel or Facebook page. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.

Know Them By Their Fruit (pt. 1)

 “By their fruit you will recognize them.”
- Matthew 7:16

In November of 1978, a popular 47-year-old evangelist and pastor showed his true colors. For the prior three decades, Pastor Jones had led thousands of people to Christ and had grown churches in Indiana and California. He took a strong stand against racism. He was also very charitable and did a lot to help the homeless. On the surface, Pastor Jones appeared to be a godly pastor. But those who looked a little closer noticed some red flags. Pastor Jones cheated on his wife and justified it. He called himself “The Prophet,” and he claimed to be able to foretell the future and heal the sick.

As the years went by, Pastor Jones became more and more paranoid of losing power. So, he convinced over a thousand of his church members to move with him to a compound in the middle of a jungle in Guyana, South America. And on November 18, 1978—after ordering followers to assassinate U.S. Representative Leo Ryan and several reporters who had traveled to Guyana to investigate his cult—Pastor Jim Jones ordered his church members to drink cyanide-laced Kool-Aid. Within a few short hours, 913 people died—including 304 children. That tragedy could have been avoided if Christians in that church had done what Jesus teaches us to do in Matthew 7.

In verse 15, Jesus says, “Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.” You see, in Jesus’ day, shepherds liked to wear sheep skin—especially during the cooler winter months. They would turn the sheep skin inside out so the fleece provided a warm inner lining, and the skin provided a water-resistant outer shell. So, when Jesus speaks of a wolf in sheep’s clothing, he isn’t warning us about someone who is pretending to be a sheep; he’s warning us about someone who is pretending to be a shepherd. He is warning us about false teachers.

But how do we recognize a false teacher? Jesus answers in verse 16, and again in verse 20: “By their fruit you will recognize them.” And in the verses in between, Jesus illustrates this point. People don’t pick grapes from thorn bushes or figs from thistles. Good trees bear good fruit and bad trees bear bad fruit. “A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit” (v. 18). It’s as simple as that. You’ll never see a juicy peach growing from the end of a crispy, dried-out branch. Healthy fruit can only be produced by healthy trees. So, one of the clearest indications that a tree is healthy is if its fruit is healthy. The same holds true for Christians.

Remember that in Genesis 1, every living thing God created was created to reproduce according to its kind. Rose bushes never produce chickens. Apple trees don’t produce polar bears. Ravens don’t lay alligator eggs, and squirrels don’t give birth to elephants. And it’s the same way in the spiritual realm. If someone is a fake Christian, his or her fakeness will become apparent over time. Sooner or later, their rotten fruit will expose them.

You can’t identify a false teacher by the way he dresses, because false teachers know how to look the part. You can’t identify a false teacher by the way he speaks, because false teachers know the right words to say. In fact, many of them have a golden tongue and can captivate crowds with their words. Even the Apostle Paul ran into false teachers who were better speakers than he was. But they were luring unsuspecting Christians onto the path of destruction.

In Matthew 7:1 when Jesus said, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged,” he was driving home the point that you and I can never know or judge people’s hearts or motives. Only God can know and judge a heart. But what you and I can judge is fruit. In order to keep yourself, your family and your church on the narrow road that leads to eternal life in heaven, Jesus has called us to be fruit inspectors.

Christians, Jesus wants you to inspect the fruit of those you vote for on election day. Don’t take at face value what they say in their campaign speeches. Inspect their fruit. Parents, don’t just let anyone get close to your kids who claims to be a Christian. Inspect their fruit before you let them get close to your kids. And singles, don’t get into a serious relationship with someone who’s just telling you what you want to hear. Churches across America are filled with false Christians: young singles who claim to be believers and followers of Jesus Christ but don’t produce any spiritual fruit, because—surprise, surprise—they’re not really saved.

I also urge you to inspect your own spiritual fruit. In the early 1800s, Adoniram Judson graduated from seminary and received a call from a respected church in Boston to become its assistant pastor. His family was excited that he could live at home with them AND do ministry. But Judson shook his head and said, “God is calling me beyond the seas. To stay here, even to serve God in His ministry, I feel would be only partial obedience, and I could not be happy in that.” He followed God’s call, and Judson’s churches in Burma have made over fifty thousand converts.

Think for a moment about Judson’s words: “I could not be happy with a partial obedience.” He could have just as easily said, “I could not be happy producing only a little spiritual fruit.” It’s not enough for us just to head down the narrow road to heaven. We need good Christian mentors to help us bear as much fruit as we possibly can. Life is too short, and our God-given mission is too important, to squander our fruitfulness. We all have the potential to bear lots of fruit for God. So, choose your teachers and mentors wisely. Then go and bear fruit for the glory of God.

Dane Davis is the Pastor of Impact Christian Church. Please join us for our in-person worship service Sundays at 9 a.m. at 17746 George Blvd. in Victorville. Or, join us online at 10 a.m. on the Impact Christian Church YouTube channel or Facebook page. For more information, visit www.GreaterImpact.cc.