No other test needed
April 16, 2008 (Wednesday)
Cecil Phelps and I were in Waco, standing in front of Waco Hall on the campus of Baylor University. We were standing in the shade under a giant tree. “What kind of tree is this?” asked Cecil. “It’s an Ash tree,” I replied. “How can you tell?” asked Cecil. “I have had some experience with Ash trees,” I said. Without cracking a smile, he bent down and picked up something from the ground. He opened his palm, revealing an acorn, and asked, “What kind of tree did you say this is?” There was no way to save face, so I just laughed with Cecil, and running through my mind was the 14th Century proverb, “Mighty oaks from tiny acorns grow.”
Jesus built on common knowledge when he said, “By their fruits shall you know them.” This is a plain and simple truth. If there are oranges on a tree, it’s an orange tree. If apples are hanging from the branches, it’s an apple tree. Jesus said, that’s the test for a teacher of gospel truth. When you look at the way he lives, you know what’s in his heart. If he tells you he believes something, but his life says something else, you know he’s not a teacher to be believed.
That principle carries over into how we grow and develop as Christians. The Apostle Paul urged us to put aside the “works of the flesh” and allow the Holy Spirit to produce “the fruit of the Spirit.” The life you live before others day by day proclaims what you believe, no matter what you say you believe. Remember Cecil’s question, “What kind of tree is this?” Someone could have put a sign on the tree labeling it an Ash, or a Pecan, but the acorns on the ground screamed, “Oak.” When will we ever learn? Labeling ourselves is meaningless; the fruit tells the story.