Rethinking the Church | Judging Trees by Their Fruit

16 You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns or figs from thistles? 17 In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Thus you will know them by their fruits.

Matthew 7:16-20 (NRSVUE)

The Dallas Cowboys are estimated to be worth over $10 billion, making them the most valuable sports franchise in the world. But would anyone seriously argue that they're more successful than the Kansas City Chiefs, who've made it to five of the last six Super Bowls and won three championships? The Cowboys haven't even been to the Super Bowl in almost thirty years.

When it comes to sports, we know how to measure success: championships, wins and losses, performance when it matters most. But somehow, when it comes to measuring church health, we often focus on all the wrong metrics. We measure attendance numbers, budget size, building projects, and social media engagement—things that might look impressive on paper but don't tell us what really matters.

Jesus gives us a different way to measure health: look at the fruit. Just like you can't judge a tree by how tall it is or how impressive it looks, you can't judge a church—or a Christian—by external appearances. A healthy tree produces good fruit. An unhealthy tree doesn't. It's that simple.

But what does healthy spiritual fruit actually look like? It's not about having perfect people who never struggle or make mistakes. It's about seeing genuine transformation in people's lives. It's about witnessing character development that can only come from God's Spirit working within someone.

When we measure health by fruit rather than by performance metrics, everything changes. Instead of asking, "How many people attended our Easter service?" we ask, "Are our people becoming more loving, patient, and kind?" Instead of celebrating budget growth, we celebrate character growth. Instead of focusing on what we're accumulating, we focus on what we're becoming.

This doesn't mean that numbers don't matter—they can be useful tools for ministry. But they shouldn't be how we measure our spiritual health. A church could have great attendance, a large budget, and beautiful facilities while producing people who are judgmental, impatient, and self-centered. On the other hand, a small church with modest resources could be producing people who demonstrate genuine love, joy, peace, and all the other characteristics that show God's Spirit is at work.

The fruit test applies to our individual lives as well. Instead of measuring our spiritual health by how often we attend church, how much we give, or how many Bible verses we can quote, we should ask: Are people drawn to Christ because of how I live? Do I demonstrate patience in difficult situations? Am I becoming more generous, forgiving, and kind? When people spend time with me, do they experience something of God's love?

This is what spiritual health looks like—not perfect performance, but authentic transformation that produces the kind of fruit that can only come from a life connected to Jesus.

Prayer: Lord, help us stop measuring our spiritual health by external metrics that don't reflect what's really happening in our hearts. Teach us to focus on the fruit that matters—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, and all the character qualities that show your Spirit is at work in us. Help our church produce the kind of fruit that draws people to you and reflects your heart to our community. Make us healthy trees that bear good fruit for your kingdom. Amen.