Unfaithfulness

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Grapes on a Thorn Bush

After telling the disciples to “Beware of false prophets,” Jesus said something that may sound peculiar to us. He asked, “Are grapes gathered from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles (Matthew 7:15-16)?” One needs not be a gardener to know the answer: of course grapes do not grow on thorn bushes, and figs do not grow on thistles. But that doesn’t mean that we never see grapes or figs on thorns. 

Just imagine a gardener going out to pick his grapes or figs. He may have a basket or a satchel near his waste where he drops in his recently-picked fruit, and as he worked, he could easily drop a few along the way. If he dropped a grape, it could fall and be impaled on a thorn or thistle. From a distance it may look as if the thorn bush is a producer of fruit, when it reality it is only fool’s gold. If we were to observe the thorn bush over time, we would realize that the fruit we saw was not a sign that it was a genuine fruit producer, but was just a fluke. 

This is what makes some false teachers so hard to identify. While some are obvious frauds—like the ones selling miracles, asking for large donations as a “seed gift,”—others may look like they are producing the fruit of righteousness. The pastor who stands up in a nice suit, opens a Bible, and preaches the cross seems on the surface like he is a man of God. Just because someone has a large congregation, reaches the best-seller list, or wins a Dove Music award is not proof that their ministries are solid and their messages are sound. We need to evaluate them by their fruit, yes, but we also need to evaluate their fruit over time. Just because they said something good doesn’t mean they are from God. It may just be that their fruit was only a grape on a thorn bush.    

We need to beware because this is so important. Jesus said the end for these false prophets is to be cut down and cast off, and that goes for their followers as well. We need to evaluate what we hear against the Word of God, not what is popular or what we have always heard. 

These false teachers will be the ones on Judgment Day saying, “Lord, Lord, didn’t we do great things in your name?” They preached, taught, wrote, sang, and did many other things, but they were not doing the will of the Father in Heaven. The most tragic part is the ones who follow these ravenous wolves will suffer a similar fate. Each person must enter by the narrow gate, making sure they are basing their salvation on the words of Jesus in the Bible. There is too much at stake to listen to the wrong people. 

Scorpions, Snakes, and Stones

Jesus used a bit of humor in His preaching when He spoke of the Father’s ability to give good gifts to His children. In Matthew 7 He is recorded as saying, “Which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent (v.10)?” In Luke’s account there is a third rhetorical question: “Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion (11:11)?” If earthly fathers know how to give their children what they need, He asked, how much more does our good Heavenly Father know how to give us what we need? 

Those may sound like outlandish comparisons to us. Who in their right mind would mistake a scorpion for an egg, a snake for a fish, or a stone for bread? As odd as it may sound, it was possible in their culture. When we hear “loaf of bread,” we may picture what we pick up on the bread aisle at the grocery store, but their loaf looked nothing like ours; their bread looked more like our biscuits, so we can understand how a young child may think a stone is bread. He could chip a tooth or hurt himself in some way by making that mistake. 

Scorpions in Jerusalem curl into balls when they sleep, and the color of their exoskeleton made them look like an egg. We can understand how a child may reach for what he thought was an egg, only to learn that it was a harmful scorpion. Serpents do not look like fish, but their meat does. Since fish were in high demand, a person could easily serve snake and call it fish in order to rip off customers. 

Notice what Jesus is saying here. No good father would allow his child to hurt himself with a stone or scorpion because he was looking out for the child’s physical wellbeing. And since eating snakes was against God’s dietary laws, no father would allow his child to defile himself before God because he was looking out for his child’s spiritual wellbeing. 

Jesus said this in the context of prayer. There are going to be times when we pray for something that seems good to us, and yet God will tell us no. We have to put ourselves into the sandals of those children asking their father for something good—like eggs, fish, and bread. It looks good to us, but in our limited understanding we do not realize that we are really reaching for scorpions, snakes, and stones. It may be tempting to get upset with God for denying us what we wanted, but we need to trust that He knows what is best for our physical and spiritual wellbeing. When God says no to your prayer, He may have just been keeping you from grabbing a scorpion. 

Before and After Sin

I had wanted to visit the Ark Encounter since it opened in 2016, and we finally had the opportunity to go. The life-sized recreation of Noah’s ark is located in Williamstown, Kentucky, with its sister attraction, the Creation Museum, just down the road in nearby Petersburg. We bought combo passes and went to both places in one day. 

To drive home the idea of how the world was in its infancy, both places had beautiful gardens as part of the attractions. Visitors get a Garden of Eden feel as they meander through parks, and they are constantly reminded of how things were before sin. In the Bible’s first book it tells us that sin led to the fall, and ultimately to the flood recorded in Genesis 6-8. The landscaping was breathtaking, and as someone who wishes his thumb were greener, I enjoyed the detail in each square foot. After a little bit of enjoying, however, I began to sneeze. Then my eyes began to water. Then my nose was running. Soon my face broke out and I was a mess, forced to buy Claritin before my trip was ruined. 

That experience hit me in more ways than one. I was struck by a powerful object lesson. There I was trying to picture the world before sin, and ultimately what it will look like after sin, but I couldn’t fully enjoy it because of my allergies. The wonderful irony is that allergies are a result of sin and the curse, so I couldn’t enjoy those thoughts for long before I was brought back to the reality of this fallen world. Every thing that ever goes wrong has sin as it root. We have not God to blame, but Adam. But hallelujah, we have the Last Adam, Christ Jesus, to thank for giving us victory over sin, and in the future victory over its full effect! 

Instead of trying to think back to how nice it would have been before sin, we can look forward to how nice it will be after sin. In the Bible’s last book it gives us a glimpse of this anticipated state: heaven comes to earth, Jesus sits on the throne, and we live with Him in bliss for eternity. Whenever things don’t go your way, just remind yourself of what you have to look forward to if you belong to the Lord.

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man the things that God has in store for those who love Him.”

I Corinthians 2:9

What Can That Boy Tell Me?

When H.B. Charles, Jr. was just seventeen years old his Los Angeles church called him to succeed his father as the senior pastor. The younger Charles had been called into the ministry and been preaching locally for several years, but when his father died unexpectedly, he was little prepared for the task at hand. To be sure, the church wasn’t exactly unanimous on handing the reins to this boy so wet behind the ears. He was, in fact, too young to even cast a vote for himself since only members at least eighteen years of age could vote.

At his installation service the man who brought the message titled his sermon, “What can that boy tell me?” He said he had heard whispers around town and around the church that Charles was too young to be able to tell them anything about marriage, parenting, or a host of things he had not personally experienced. In his book On Pastoring, Charles describes the message that night, and how it laid a solid foundation for his future in the ministry. Here is how he describes that landmark morning: 

“Pastor Hill methodically worked through several passages of Scripture, arguing for authority from God’s Word for each one. After preaching for an hour, he climactically stated, ‘So what can that boy tell me? He can tell you whatever the Word of God tells him to tell you!’” 

There is so much truth in that statement. When I spoke at my first marriage conference I had only been married for two years. I jokingly told the attendees that if they put what I said into practice, maybe they could make it as long as we had. But the reality is that I was not there to speak on the authority of my experiences and successes, but to speak from the authority of the Word of God. I haven’t yet had the joy of raising teenagers, but that doesn’t mean that I cannot give biblical advice to those parents who are. We need to have a high view of the supremacy and inerrancy of Scripture, and that will lead us to find God’s truth, not man’s opinion. 

I want to be clear: we can absolutely gain help and insight by listening to the testimony of others. Part of our story involves sharing what God has done through us, or how we have learned from our mistakes and triumphs. At the end of the day, though, our experiences are only that. One does not need to be a licensed counselor or ordained minister to be able to learn and apply the Bible, and to be able to pass that truth along to others.  We must always be people of the Good Book, letting its timeless truths govern our modern problems. It isn’t about you or me, or who has the most recognizable name; if a person is rightly dividing the Word of Truth, we should all listen.