Examining the Fruit

The Gospel of Matthew, Chapter 11, tells of John the Baptist, from prison, sending word to ask Jesus, "Are you he who is to come, or shall we look for another?"

According to Barbara Brown Taylor, Jesus doesn't just say, "Yes, I am the one."  Instead, he says:

Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers^* are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. (Matthew 11:4-5)

He doesn't affirm that he is "the one."  Instead he asks John to make the judgment based on the fruit of his ministry.  A couple of things occur to me as I read that.

First, Jesus leaves it up to each of us to judge who he is.  Who do you say that he is?  Does the evidence you see and know lead to faith?

Secondly, who would others say that we are by looking at our fruit?  On the school bus once, during high school, a fellow student asked me, "Are you a Christian?"  I was taken back by the question, and I didn't really answer him.  What if someone were to ask me, "I've heard about these Christians.  Are you one of them?"  Could I answer similarly to how Jesus answered the question John asked him?  Can other people look at the fruit of my faith and know whose I am?