Recently, I’ve become bothered by a phrase that Christians often throw around without much thought: “We’re called to be fruit inspectors.” It’s frequently used to justify inspecting and analyzing the lives of other believers.
Certainly, there is some merit to the fact that Jesus taught us to examine fruit (Matthew 7:16). However, I fear we’ve taken that idea and run it into the ground. Somewhere along the way, we’ve confused examining fruit with declaring ourselves gardeners.
When we inspect someone else’s life and see bruises, scars, failures, or struggles, we immediately try to “fix” them. At the very least, we often take our beliefs and convictions and drive them into people like a stake instead of offering them a cup of cold water. We step in with what we believe is the perfect solution, as though we’ve stumbled upon the magical answer that will miraculously cure their problem.
Even when our answer is biblically sound, more often than not, we need to allow the Holy Spirit to do the convicting. When we become laser-focused on truth alone, truth can become weaponized, and we lose the very person we are trying to lead into the Kingdom.
Perhaps the saddest outcome is when we finally realize we can’t fix someone. We quietly distance ourselves, exclude them from our circles, or simply walk away and call it holiness.
I am wholly convinced that this is not the way of Jesus.
Throughout the Gospels, we see Him continually reaching toward broken people rather than pushing them away. He never compromised the truth, but neither did He abandon people because they struggled. Jesus didn’t chase after the rich young ruler when he walked away, nor did He soften the truth to make him stay. He lovingly spoke the truth and then allowed the young man to make his own decision. Even then, Jesus never stopped showing compassion. He looked beyond the brokenness and saw the image of God staring back at Him.
Following Jesus means fighting daily against our own sinful nature. It also means standing beside people who are not yet ready—or may not even want—to fight that same battle. The Church is called to live in the world without conforming to it, not to remove itself from it.
Jesus sat with tax collectors. He touched lepers. He looked a prostitute in the eye. He welcomed sinners to His table. Again and again, He offered grace before calling people to a transformed life.
Our calling is no different.
We stand firmly on God’s truth while extending God’s love. We hold hands rather than point fingers. We listen before we speak. We love before we label. And we remember that redemption belongs to God. Our role is to faithfully love people while trusting the Holy Spirit to change hearts.
Jesus said, “For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost”(Luke 19:10). He also said, “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me” (Matthew 25:40).
Perhaps we’ve become so focused on saying, “Hate the sin and love the sinner,” that we’ve overlooked something even more important: Hate your own sin, and then love the sinner.
The Church will truly shine when it stops becoming an expert at identifying the damaged. Instead, it will become the place where the world knows it can always find grace and truth together—a place that welcomes the hurting, embraces the broken, and offers every person the life-changing love of Jesus Christ.
In Christ,
James