Why You Need to Have a Thorough Knowledge of Scripture

By the third or fourth time one of their thorns had punctured a lawn mower tire, we had started to call them “devil trees.” An invasive species here in Maine, they began to take root in fields and fencerows, but their lovely blossoms and bright berries fail to redeem the damage they cause with their sharp-as-a-nail thorns growing on every branch.

Decorative, but destructive.
Lovely, but invasive.

Whatever their real botanical handle might be, those “devil trees” come to mind as I read on in Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount:

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will recognize them by their fruits.”
(Matthew 7:15-20)

Mixing his metaphors, Jesus begins with sheep and wolves, but quickly veers into imagery around two kinds of trees: good, healthy trees that bear good fruit and diseased trees that bear bad fruit.

Can You Identify Good Fruit?

Earlier in his sermon, Jesus has already warned us about the dangers of being judgmental, but almost in the same breath, he counsels his listeners to practice wise discernment. Here we are once again.

Jesus’ warning against false teachers is highly relevant in this era of spiritual leaders who prey upon their followers more than they pray for them. How shall we recognize these ravenous wolves and diseased trees?

Remember that “sheep’s clothing” may be very convincing! False teachers may have a great education with lots of letters after their names. Their sermons may go viral on YouTube and their books may be bestsellers. They may seem very concerned for you, offering to pray for you, meet with you, or help you in various ways to earn your trust.

Was Jesus encouraging his disciples to be suspicious, looking for trouble behind every bush? On the contrary, it sounds to me as if Jesus had every confidence that his listeners would be able to distinguish the difference between truth and error. He assured them of this: “You will recognize them by their fruits.”

Paul may not have been present for the Sermon on the Mount (Or was he one of the Pharisees, lurking and looking for something to criticize?), but he has provided present-day disciples with a convenient list of good fruit that sets good teachers apart from the false teachers and healthy trees apart from the diseased trees:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.” (Galatians 5:22-23)

Will our spiritual leaders be walking cornucopias of spiritual fruit, always and at all times? Of course not, and neither will we. Most of us are more prone to thorns and thistles than figs and grapes.

This list from Paul’s letter is aspirational. It gives us a picture of what’s possible in a life surrendered to Christ.

Remember, though, that our “devil trees” here in Maine, put on a pretty good show with their lovely flowers and brightly-colored fruit. If false teachers walked around being cranky, irritated, critical, impatient, insecure, envious, and openly selfish all the time, we wouldn’t need to exercise discernment.

We need to know our Bibles. As believers, we need a thorough knowledge of scripture. We need a solid grasp of our sacred text so that when we hear error we can identify it, reject it, and counter it with the truth.

Praying Together

Lord, we can hardly stand to listen to the news with one more account of spiritual abuse in a church or sexual impropriety among Christian leaders. Help us to walk circumspectly in our information-laden world where there’s always someone who will make us feel good about being bad. Protect us from false teachers and prevent us from becoming like them! We want to bear good fruit for your glory! Amen

Let’s continue this conversation:

• Have you ever been the victim of a “wolf in sheep’s clothing?”
• Based on our reading of the Sermon on the Mount to this point, have you noticed the agrarian overtones to so much of Jesus’ teaching? We don’t typically grow our own grapes and figs, and most of us have never lived in the same zip code with a sheep. What kind of readers do we need to be in order to learn from his metaphors and benefit from his warnings?
• What safeguards do you have in place in your own life to protect you from false teaching and false teachers?