Some say tomato

Truncated Church on a Hardwood Floor

We can debate, of course, whether a tomato is a fruit or a vegetable, but deciding on one or the other changes neither the flavour nor the nutritional value of the . . . well, fruit (or vegetable). Truth is, we use the word fruit to mean both the edible seed covering of a tree or plant and, more generally, the product of an entity or action, as in “a fruitful conversation.”

It’s the latter meaning that Jesus’ words in the Sermon on the Mount are referencing, and taken as a life-principal, judging by fruit rather than by appearance or declaration should be routine for us who call ourselves followers of Christ. It could do away with racism, ageism, gender-isms and all those many “isms” that unjustly make of life a misery for so many people.

“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 cannot bear good fruit . . . thus, by their fruit you will recognize them.” (Matthew 7: 15-20)

Jesus makes the point that good trees can’t bear bad fruit and vise versa and although he’s warning here about false prophets (televangelists included, perhaps?), the principle is repeated more generally in the cursing of the barren fig tree, given another slant in the parable of the tares growing among the wheat stalks. Effective analogies, these. Where the product tastes foul, suspect the quality of the tree that produced it. Where the fruit is succulent and nutritious, nourish and tend that tree with vigilance and gentle care.

Climate change, species extinctions, militarism, runaway consumerism, poverty in the midst of wealth are some examples of the foul fruit we settle for on a daily basis. Homo Sapiens are the trees that produce these foul fruits. That’s one way of applying the fruit allegories in scripture, i.e. look to the tree when the fruit falls short.

Closer to home for us Christians, we have to admit that our history as a religion has produced some extremely sour fruit, of which collaborating with that gnarled and barren fig tree—Sir John A. Macdonald—to herd Aboriginal children into residential schools in order to “drive the Indian out of them” provides a bitter example. The mixing of religion with idolatrous nationalism in the USA and in a few Middle Eastern countries is a more recent case of millions being forced to eat sour grapes, the products of trees that should have been cut down and burned a long time ago. Look to the trees.

The fruit-allegories and parables may be missing something unless we add to them another truism central to the good news, namely that with tender care, with judicious pruning, with watering and nourishing bad trees sometimes become good trees that begin to bear better fruit. Pedophiles, whose fruit is some of the bitterest we know, have been known to become bearers of good fruit under the friendship and guidance of Circles of Support and Accountability. The Apostle Paul began his association with Christ’s church by persecuting followers.

“Some say ‘toe-mā-toe,’ some say ‘te-mah-toe.’ But in either case, when the tomatoes taste bad, look to the plant.