“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.” (Matthew 7:17–19, ESV)
When we lived in New Hampshire, there was a tree at the back of our property that was diseased. As I watched the tree, branches were falling off and it was right next to a path that the neighborhood kids took to school. I was worried that a branch might fall on one of them as they walked on the path so I decided to cut the tree down. When I did, I discovered that the lower section of the trunk was where the problem was and it did not fall in the direction I had hoped. It fell into the crotch of another tree. I spend three days with a chain and winch pulling the tree a little at a time and cutting 4-foot sections off the bottom until it cleared the other tree. Once on the ground, I then preceded to cut it up into logs to be spilt for firewood. Sometimes diseased trees can be salvaged by cutting off the diseased portions, but in many cases the tree needs to come down.
In the context of false prophets, Jesus sated,
“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.” (Matthew 7:17–19, ESV)
The problem of disease is serious in fruit trees. Jesus used this metaphor to indicated that diseased trees produce bad fruit and healthy trees produce good fruit.
The church and believers are in a fruit bearing mission. The fruit is to be healthy fruit, the fruit of righteousness. However, there are many professing believers who are not healthy and are not bearing the fruit of the Spirit in their lives. The problem could be that there is a disease of unrighteousness, that is sin, apostasy, or spiritual lethargy in their lives. They may also have permitted heretical and divisive teachings to infuse the truth that they profess. These heresies are many as discussed in the previous devotion.
Yet, this problem of disease can also affect gatherings of believers who profess to be Christian churches. These would be churches that are not preaching the truth of God’s word. Yet, unhealthy churches are not limited to those who preach false things. There are many reasons that churches can become unhealthy. Sometimes this can happen without the churches and church leaders even knowing it. This was the problem on my heart when I wrote the book, “Hurdling the Barriers.”
The book covers how to overcome 12 major barriers to church health. The premise is that healthy churches will produce good fruit. This means that numerical growth is not the major issue for only healthy churches will experience healthy growth. For example, certain churches today are preaching false truths or half-truth to the detriment of the hearers. Some even experience dynamic growth as they tickle the itching ear of willing listeners.
There is a time of judgment coming when the diseased trees will be brought down. It behooves every believer and every church to examine themselves, that is to take a spiritual health examination, and remove the diseases that may be present before the tree is fully diseased. I fear that many denominations today have already gone too far. Yet, there is hope of healing and it is only found in Jesus and the truth of His word.
Renewing the Heart 