October 23, 2025
Jesus told the story about the fig tree. He approached it thinking he would find fruit, but found none. He saw only green leaves, not any fruit. He cursed the tree.
This immediately reminded me of the Evangelical Church in the USA, which, in many ways, echoes this story. Generally speaking, the evangelical church in the USA is a massive tree with lots of green leaves but very little, if any, fruit. Saying that, many will say that their church is growing in numbers, and every Sunday, they have those who come forward to accept Christ and are baptized. What do you mean, we are a fig tree with little or no fruit?
Many of these converts are likely not genuine Christians due to the compromises in the gospel preached in most evangelical churches. The bar has been lowered to the point that there is no cost associated with becoming a Christian. Actually, in most evangelical churches, you do not even need to stop sinning to become a Christian. Why is that? You are born with a sinful nature and will always continue to sin even when you are filled with the Holy Spirit of God. What kind of fruit does that message really bear?
At a typical evangelical church, you will find great worship music, lots of positive comments, stirring, emotional messages, and broad appeal. There will be many fig leaves, but very little fruit, due to false and compromised teaching.
But there is more to the story than a corporate application. As individuals, our lives can mirror the corporate image. On the outside, we can look put together, sing in the choir, attend church faithfully, give to the church and charities liberally, and still be impure at our heart. We can have lots of green leaves, but a fruitless life, for it is all done from impure motives. We can look the part but still be bound by secret sins that no one knows about. We can fool everyone but God, for He knows all of those hidden sins.
Jesus said that you and I will know a tree by the fruit it produces. In many Evangelical churches, they teach that Christians may not bear any fruit whatsoever, but that doesn’t mean they are not genuine Christians. The late Charles Stanley taught that specifically. Let us remember the story of the fruitless fig tree. Bearing fruit is not optional. Our lives must be more than a bunch of green leaves. And if our lives are full of unrepentant sin, we are nothing but green leaves giving only the appearance of life. Is that not true?
