Matthew 7:13-21
"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns, or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits.
"Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.
Prophets in Bizarro World
It’s enough to make your head hurt. There seems to be so many Christians who claim to know the difference between what’s true and what’s false and who will gladly share their opinions to anyone who crosses their path. I mean, they have no hesitation extolling men and women whose message is godly and right, while condemning others who they believe are evil and wrong. And even though this kind of thing is hardly new, the standards by which these judgements are made are like nothing I’ve ever seen. For example, personal ethics and honesty no longer seem important when considering the quality of either the messenger or the message. And established patterns of behavior don’t seem relevant, because past action have been separated from current motivation. In fact, all of a sudden, those who were most adamant that morality always matters, they appear unconcerned by the kind of moral lapses that might have caused their heads to explode in the past. I’ll tell you, when it comes to false prophets, it’s like we’ve entered Bizarro World, where sin is ignored or justified and righteousness is ridiculed and condemned.
And maybe that’s why it’s so important for us to return to the teachings of Jesus in order to regain our footing. And I’ll tell you, when we do, we’ll find that what always was is still true; a tree is judged by it’s fruits. Grapes don’t produce thorns, and thistles don’t produce figs. And the men and women whom we should follow are those who both display and seek the kind of spiritual fruit Paul described in Galatians: “...the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against such things.” [Galatians 5:22b-23, NRSV] I’m telling, only God’s Word and common sense will enable Christians to separate the true from the false prophets in Bizarro World.
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