By their fruits (part3)

In part 2 we saw that Jesus said that people would be “known” by their fruits. But the very idea that we can “know” a person or group by their fruits implies that we have to both observe and make a judgment about their fruits. Therefore, it is clear from his statements about knowing people “by their fruits” that Jesus intended us to make such judgments. In essence, Jesus was telling us to act as “fruit inspectors” so to speak, inspecting the fruit of those persons or groups claiming to be Christian, in order to determine if those claims are true. While we cannot and should not attempt to do this with everyone, we can and should do it with anyone whose claims have a direct influence upon us or those we love.

Many Christians are reluctant to do this because of Matthew 7:1-2: “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged.” But the word translated “judge” in this passage simply means to make a decision, and the next few verses prove that Jesus was not forbidding us to make any decisions or judgments about other people, but rather he was admonishing us to examine our own lives before pointing out faults in others. Jesus makes this clear later in this passage, telling us that once we have taken the “plank” out of our own eye, we will “see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye.” (Verse 5)

 In other words, once we have removed the obstruction from our own eye, we will be better qualified to make judgments about others regarding that same type of obstruction. Paul confirms this principle in 2^nd Corinthians 10:6, where he says that it is only when our “obedience is complete” that “we are ready to punish every act of disobedience.” The areas of our life where our obedience is “complete” are those areas where we have taken the “plank” out of our own eye, and can now see clearly to help someone else do the same thing in their life. Before we can see clearly to inspect the fruit of another tree, we need to inspect our own fruit.

Even though “fruit” is most often seen outwardly, in words and actions, it is actually an outward expression of an inward reality. In 1st Samuel 16:7 God told Samuel, “Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” Most of the judgments made by men are based entirely upon the “outward appearance” of things. Only God can look straight into the heart of man, seeing not only his actions but his motives as well, so ultimately only he can make completely accurate judgments about people. This does not mean that we are incapable of judging accurately, but it does help us understand why Jesus cautioned us in John 7:24 saying, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.” The phrase “to judge with righteous judgment” refers to judging the way God, the “righteous judge” does.

Patience is one of the essential aspects of “righteous judgment.” Many times we judge people or organizations based on one experience alone. The obvious danger of this is that one experience can be, and often is, misleading. If we will be patient enough to withhold our judgment initially, choosing instead to wait until we have more experiences, data, and evidence, we will almost always be more accurate in whatever conclusions we reach.

Another essential component of “righteous judgment’ is the confirmation of others. The clear biblical principle for this is found in the statement: “out of the mouth of two or three witnesses let every word be established.” Often times when we are willing to seek out the thoughts and discernment of others about a person or situation, our judgment about that situation will be more accurate. It is for this reason that Paul admonished Timothy, “Do not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses.” (1 Timothy 5:19)

Yet another essential component of “righteous judgment” is mercy. There are dozens of verses in the Bible tell us that, even though God is a righteous judge, his “mercy endures forever.” And in James 2:13 tells us that, “judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; but mercy triumphs over judgment.” In other words, God’s mercy is even more powerful than his judgment! And we will be far more likely to judge with “righteous judgment” if this same thing is true of us.