Barks, Leaves and Fruit

Chuck and I became good friends while we attended medical school in the late 1980's.  Chuck had a somewhat distinctive appearance - tall, slender, wearing an easy smile, with brown hair, very light complexion and no freckles.  It turned out that he was part Cherokee Indian, and that his father, an aficionado of the great outdoors, taught him much about plant and animal life during his youth while growing up in Ohio.  Chuck once told me that his father taught him to recognize a variety of tree species by simply looking at the bark.  Needless to say, I was impressed by his professed skills of arbor identification, as I normally would only be able to identify a tree if there was a plaque or sign with the name of the tree species in front of it.  However, I eventually managed to improve my tree knowledge over the years, and now I can fairly confidently recognize an oak from a sycamore, or a mesquite from a palo verde.  It's not much to brag about, since most Cub Scouts probably can do the same.

On the other hand, I have no trouble identifying citrus plants.  Having lived nearly my entire life in Taiwan and Southern California, where warm weather and abundant sunshine provide fabulous citrus growing conditions, it is unusual for me to live for even a day without some citrus exposure.  We have navel oranges and lemons in the refrigerator, large, juicy pomelos (massive, grapefruit-like monstrosities with very thick rind) on the kitchen counter, a bag of mandarin oranges in a basket, a grapefruit tree in the backyard that is full of fruit, and a kumquat tree at my mother's house.  I can recognize Valencia oranges, Texas oranges, lemons, limes, tangerines, tangelos, and clementines.  If you show me a citrus tree, I'll immediately recognize the characteristic shape of the broad, dark green, waxy leaves, and know for certain that it is a citrus tree. 

Unfortunately, if the tree is not bearing fruit, I will not be able to tell whether it is a lemon tree, an orange tree, or a grapefruit tree, because their leaves are indistinguishable from one another.  It is by the fruit that the tree is recognized.

Just as it is impossible to discern a citrus tree without seeing its fruit, it is difficult to know a person without seeing his works and deeds.  A surgeon is good only if he has performed many surgeries successfully, and that his patients are happy with the results.  An honest looking person may simply be an expert in deception unless he also acts with integrity, even when it appears that no one is watching.  In the same way, one cannot claim to be a "born again" Christian without somehow demonstrating radical changes in thought, words and actions. We may fool others for a season, but our fruit will eventually betray our identity.

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

You can't judge a fruit tree by its leaves alone.