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<\/p>\nIn Matthew 7:16, Jesus says that to recognize false prophets, \u201cyou will know them by their fruits.\u201d In Matthew 7:20 He says something similar: \u201cBy their fruits you will know them.\u201d Many teachers and Bible scholars say that Jesus is referring to a person\u2019s good works as the indication of whether or not they are a\u00a0 false prophet, or more generically, whether or not they are even a Christian.<\/p>\n
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Two things can be said against the idea that good fruit refers to good works in Matthew 7:16-20.<\/p>\n
First, in the immediately following passage (Matthew 7:21-23), Jesus talks about a group of people who have all the good works, but they do not know Jesus. They are so \u201cgood\u201d in the good works department, they prophesy in His name, cast out demons, and perform many miracles.\u201d Surely, if good are \u201cfruit\u201d then these people qualify. But they do not qualify. Jesus says they practice lawlessness.<\/p>\n
So what does Jesus mean when He talks about knowing someone by their fruit? A few chapters later He tells us. In Matthew 12, Jesus once again brings up the topic of good fruit from good trees, and this time, He specifically states that the good fruit is the good words that proceeds out of person\u2019s mouth, while bad fruit is the bad words that come out of their mouths. So by Jesus\u2019 own words, the \u201cfruit\u201d He has in mind is not the good works that a person does or doesn\u2019t perform, but rather, the words that come out of their mouths. Jesus emphasizes this again a little white later in Matthew 15:18 when He says that those things which come out of the mouth proceed from the heart (cf. Luke 6:45). This fits right in line with what James, the brother of Jesus, writes in James 3 about the tongue.<\/p>\n
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So what does it mean to have good fruit come out of our mouths? Strangely, we Christians have seemed to reduce this teaching of Jesus down to a few guidelines:<\/p>\n
In many Christian circles, as long as we \u201cStand for truth no matter what!\u201d, season our speech with Bible quotes, and don\u2019t say \u201cthe S-word\u201d or worse yet, \u201cthe F-word\u201d, we are good to go.<\/p>\n
Yet we turn around and gossip at church about the pastor\u2019s wife. We get online and say the meanest things imaginable to people we do not know on Twitter and Facebook. We curse entire groups of people to hell because we don\u2019t like their religion (e.g., Muslims), their lifestyle (e.g., Gays), or their politics (e.g., Liberals). We speak harshly to our wife, rudely to our children, and arrogantly to our \u201cunsaved\u201d neighbor. With our words, we undercut our boss at work, denounce our President as the anti-Christ, and tell police officers that they are racist pigs.<\/p>\n
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I sometimes think Christianity would be far better off if we just all shut our mouths. <\/p>\n
In an age when insults are so normal we think \u201croasts\u201d are cool, and cyber-bullying occurs so often we barely take notice when suicides are the result, followers of Jesus need to be a rock of love in the swiftly-moving current of curses, providing voices of hope, healing, restoration, and acceptance that have almost never been found in the church.<\/p>\n
Good fruit proceeds out of a mouth which overflows from a heart filled with love for others. <\/p>\n
So the next time you tap out that perfect insult on Twitter, or come up with the witty rebuttal by email, or simply want to lash out in unchecked anger at the false teacher (in your opinion) on Facebook, take a deep breath, move your finger away from the \u201cSend\u201d button, and remember those famous words from Thumper in the movie Bambi<\/em>: \u201cIf you can\u2019t say something nice, don\u2019t say nothin\u2019 at all.\u201d<\/p>\n