Good and Bad Fruit

How to tell whether a church or teacher bears the name of Jesus

Has being around evangelical Christians ever left you feeling nauseous, anxious, judged, inferior, condemned, or confused about what love looks like? Do you wonder if you need a long hot bath to wash off the ick — and then want to run far away from the whole thing, including the One they claim to follow? I hear you. I really do.

Those feelings are what the Bible would call bad fruit — and bad fruit is not from God. In fact, it’s a red flag that whoever is producing those behaviors is not reflecting Christ. Jesus himself said it plainly: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another” (John 13:34–35). He didn’t define love with words there; He showed it — washing His disciples’ feet, taking the low place, and praying for the very people who would nail Him to the cross.

Love like that is humble. Love like that dies to being right so it can see and accept another person. It is not the posture of someone who delights in making others feel small. If you leave a church feeling condemned, judged, or gaslit, you didn’t meet Jesus in that place. You met something else.

To be fair, living this way is hard. None of us does it naturally. That’s why Jesus came — to be our helper. He redeems us by His death so He can show us what love looks like. Understanding and receiving His love fuels the work of the Spirit in us, and that’s how our lamps are filled to light the way for others.

Matthew 7:15–20 warns us to recognize good and bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot produce good fruit. If a community’s fruit is condemnation and judgment, that’s not the Gospel. The Gospel is good news — rescue, forgiveness, welcome, and transformation.

This is why I encourage everyone to read Scripture and pray before forming theological conclusions. I am fallible; I have been wounded by flawed Christians. That is exactly why I urge you to go to the Source. Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal truth so you don’t inherit someone else’s distortions.

In my life I have often been a hesitant prodigal — tempted to wander because of the damage done in the name of the Gospel. But what I wanted more than anything was Jesus and His Father. Maybe that’s you too...?