The second step to examining if someone is a false teacher is to look at their fruits. We can examine their fruits in three specific areas: their lives, their lips, and their leadership. If we see bad fruit in these areas, that is a sure sign that someone is a bad tree, a false teacher, a wolf who has come among God’s flock in sheep’s clothing. We do well to avoid such people as these.

In our first article, we discussed the first step in identifying false teachers. To develop the necessary discernment to unmask deceivers, we must recognize that false teachers often look like genuine followers of Christ. False teachers come as wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing. They arise from within the church and disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their deceptive appearance aids them in carrying out their destructive desires. Therefore, we must be on the alert, knowing that not everyone who claims to follow Christ necessarily is a genuine disciple. But how can we discern who is true and who is false?

Jesus gives a second step to identify a false teacher in Matthew 7:16-20. He describes false teachers using the agricultural metaphor of an orchard. Trees in an orchard are planted to produce quality fruit the owner of the orchard can enjoy, share, and sell. However, not every bush or tree produces good fruit. Some bushes are thorn bushes, and others are thistles (Matthew 7:16). These kinds of bushes and trees produce what Jesus describes as “bad fruit” (Matthew 7:17). Furthermore, the only thing thorn bushes and thistles can produce is bad fruit. Bad trees never produce good fruit; conversely, good trees never produce bad fruit. A fig tree, for example, will not produce poisonous berries.

Jesus applies this imagery to His warning against false teachers. He says, “So then, you will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:20). We can identify false teachers by looking at what “fruit” they produce. What, then, does Jesus mean by fruit? What specifically are we to look for in the life of a church leader, pastor, or any other professing Christian seeking to influence us? Let me suggest three types of fruit we should examine to discern if someone is a false teacher.

The first kind of fruit we should inspect is the product of a leader’s life. This meaning for fruit is found in Matthew 3:8, when John the Baptist told the Pharisees and Sadducees to “bear fruit in keeping with repentance.” John was warning them to turn away from their ungodly ways and to walk in genuine godliness. Israel’s religious leaders embodied the characteristics of false teachers, and their hypocritical and self-righteous behavior was a clear indictment that their character did not bear good fruit.

While everyone sins, including the most godly and sincere Christian leaders, the false teacher sins as a way of life. The fruit of his life is habitually contrary to the Word of God. In 2 Peter 2:15 such false teachers are described as “forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness.” Peter describes the greedy way of Balaam, the prophet for hire, whose entire ministry seems to be based on financial gain. False teachers are those whose lives are marked by a love for the world and the things in the world rather than a sincere love for God.

When we consider Jesus’ warning about bad fruit coming from bad trees, the first aspect of a leader’s fruit we should consider is his life.

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