A Year-Long Exploration of the Sermon on the Mount: Week 49

Chapter 49 – False Prophets

 

Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thorns or figs from thistles? In the same way, every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. Thus you will know them by their fruits. (Matthew 7:15-20)

Scot McKnight urges us to turn this text back to ourselves like a mirror and ask, “Am I the false prophet of this text?” (p. 310) I will admit that sometimes I’m guilty of this – being patient, kind, compassionate, and all the other qualities that make me a good priest while I’m at the office, the church, or in collar…but then at other times, I’m impatient, easily angered, and other not-so-nice qualities. In these times I pray to understand why this is happening and what I can do to rectify it.

False prophets are found elsewhere in our world; they are all over the place. Have you ever watched a baseball player hit a homerun and when he gets to home plate, he points to the sky in thanksgiving? Or how about when a natural disaster occurs and someone goes onto social media and declares that God sent the disaster to wipe out *insert any marginalized group here*? And then there are the megachurches…

According to Gene Davenport, false prophets are often sincere, truly believing themselves to be messengers of God. (p. 312) However, these same people often think that every problem has a simple solution. A quick quote from the bible and all will be well again. False prophets will tell you that nothing needs to be done during a crisis because God will take care of it. Pray it away! (Whatever “it” may be.)

But life isn’t that simple. Life is messy. Life is complicated. So, beware of false prophets who tell you that prayer alone will help. Jesus tells us that bearing good fruit, having action behind your prayers, is what will get you through this messy and complicated life.