By their Fruit

By their Fruit . . .

“Watch out for false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves. By their fruit you will recognize them. Do people pick grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? Likewise, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” (Matthew 7:15-20, NIV)


Clyde: Whatcha got there, Klavier?
Klavier: Picked me some fruit. Wanna try one?
Clyde: Don't mind if I do, but boy, that's funny lookin' fruit! (Takes a bite; spits it out) Wherdya get this? Tastes like crap!
Klavier: Got it off that tree ova there. Lots more there.
Clyde: You dunderhead! That's an Apple of Sodom! It looks nice but it's POISONOUS!
Klavier: You sure?
Clyde: I'm sure. That is one bad tree. You'll never get a juicy MacIntosh off it. 


The content of Jesus' fruit metaphor in Matthew 7 is mysterious if we can't figure out what “fruit” is in the world to which he's speaking. From an earlier passage. It's clear that “false prophets” produce such bad fruit that their presence in the world can be likened to “ferocious wolves.” So the fruit they produce must have something to do with ulterior motives: they don't offer fruit for food, but for some sinister purpose that will do harm to people, and probably profit themselves. Problem is, these wolves wear sheep's clothing and so innocents are fooled into “eating their fruit,” thinking it's real food. 

On the other hand, true prophets are handing out good food, food that nourishes and brings life. 

But that still leaves us with the conundrum: when Jesus speaks of good fruit and bad fruit how would he answer the question, “What, Lord, does good fruit look like?”

The Apostle Paul didn't own a New Testament because it didn't exist yet, but we're told by scholars that what would later be consolidated as gospels was probably passed around in fragments among Christians and that there was a strong oral tradition with which Paul would be familiar. Furthermore, his education in the teaching of Jesus must have been ongoing and with considerable dialogue among those who had experienced Christ in person. 

In Paul's letter to the Galatians, he lays out a primer of good fruit and bad fruit, although whether or not his meaning of “fruit” parallels Jesus' meaning in the Sermon on the Mount might be debatable.


“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.” (Galatians 5:22-26, NIV)


Supposing for a minute that Paul's use of “fruit” is the same as Jesus', it's not a huge leap to accept as a gospel truth that we can recognize the tree (person) by the fruit it (he/she) produces, and that the identity of the good fruit is made clear in 5:22. In other words, a church that doesn't teach that love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control are markers of the spirit of Christ are under Paul's judgment for sloppiness with the fruits of the spirit, for failing the “fruit” test.
 
Perhaps it's an interpretive thing, but there are Christian denominations that can't get away from the idea that since “fruit” is tangible—that it's produce—then the fruit Jesus and Paul speak of must be product-oriented. As born-again evangelicalism entered my world of the fifties and sixties, the product was “leading souls to Christ,” so much so that keeping a log of products manufactured was a temptation and the reticent, naturally-inhibited kids understandably felt their self-esteem and worth as Christians cut out from under them. 
 
Two questions: What about those people who exhibit all the spirit-fruits Paul enumerates and have never even heard of Jesus? And, is it true that the foundation to be built for a life that prospers the kingdom begins with a focus on Paul's spirit-fruits?