By Their Fruit: Public Admonishment, Church Discipline, and the Boundary of the State: Why Government Cannot Police the Church’s Acts of Correction

When government attempts to police the church’s acts of correction, the conflict is not political—it is theological.

Drawing on Scripture, Christian theology, and constitutional history, By Their Fruit argues that the state has no authority over the church’s conscience or its internal discipline. From Augustine and Luther to Barth and Niebuhr, the Christian tradition has consistently warned against government intrusion into the life of the church—especially when power seeks to silence moral witness.

Using Jesus’s own standard—“you will know them by their fruit”—this book measures authority by outcomes rather than intent. It examines contemporary events, including federal enforcement actions by ICE, the Minnesota protests that followed, and the arrest of ordained minister and civil rights advocate Nekima Levy Armstrong after public admonishment within the church. It also addresses the role of government officials, including Pam Bondi and federal authorities, in attempting to criminalize or chill religious correction.

By placing these moments alongside Scripture—particularly Matthew 25 and the biblical mandate to speak for the vulnerable—By Their Fruit contends that when state power produces fear, injury, and displacement, the church cannot remain silent without betraying its calling.

This is not a book about partisanship or policy.
It is a theological argument about boundaries, conscience, and obedience.

When the church corrects its own, it is not sedition—it is faithfulness.
When the state prosecutes that correction, the fruit is not order, but coercion.

And by that fruit, power is known.