Picking people is like picking fruit: you have to know what to look for. If you don’t know how to pick the right people, you may lose more than your money.
Some want your money – and know how to get it. They’re slick, and hard to pick. Some want your mind. They’re slicker still, and use mysticism to mould your thinking. Power is the name of their game. Others want all they can get – and aren’t too fussy how they go about it.
In a world of broken promises, little credibility and amorality, people are losing faith in once trusted religious and political institutions. They’re opting for change – any change. And they’re vulnerable.
You are God’s most precious possession. It’s you Jesus died for. Satan also wants you, and to get you, he must first deceive you. If you are interested in God, he will use religious means to do it. (He misquoted the Bible when tempting Jesus.)
How then to pick the true from the false, the Christian from the cultist, faith from fanaticism?
By learning how to pick fruit. Jesus said: “By their fruit you will know them.” He was warning his followers of false “believers” – “wolves in sheep’s clothing” – deceivers who would masquerade as true believers.
“Look for fruit – the end product of their lives”, Jesus warned. Not personality. Not power. Not unreal lifestyle. These can be deceptive. Fruit doesn’t just happen – it grows, it takes time to develop, it can be safely sampled.
Most existing cults came into being during the past 150 years. Their founders demanded unquestioning obedience. Their followers are intrusive – and sometimes aggressive. But what of their fruit?
The fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22 is the fruit of a new inner life. Love, joy, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faithfulness, humility and self-control – these are fruit we should inspect, when confronted by those who claim that they are “the only true church.”
These fruit don’t grow overnight. Neither are they common. But you can enjoy them when you find them grown in a believer’s life. If someone wanted to bless my house, pray over me or advise me how to run my life, I’d want to see fruit galore hanging from him!
The fruit that attracts me is the evidence of a transformed life. I like to hear people call Jesus “Lord,” but I like to see them doing what he said, not just saying it. I look at the husband, the wife, the children of someone who asks for my loyalty, and ask myself: What has his faith done for them?
Personality is fine, if there’s fruit. Power likewise. Fruit is the only real proof of a true believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Learn what to look for in people. But don’t become a meat inspector, looking at flesh. Become a fruit inspector. It will save you from a lot of misery, and it might even save your life.