God can move in his grace to produce kingdom fruit despite our pride, but the call for followers of Jesus is to have hearts congruent with his work. True kingdom fruit is both internal and external. God seeks to make good trees that produce good fruit. To use the language from James 3 again, we can do things in bitter jealousy and selfish ambition, and despite our motives God can still bring about good results. But this is not all that God desires. God calls us to produce fruit from the heart and to participate genuinely in his work in the world.
