Counterfeit

My family and I are getting ready to move into a new place of residency and I can't help but notice that my wife has bought some ne home decor. That's great because I love a house that has a decorated theme; It really makes a house a home. As I'm packing our belongings into boxes and loading it into the back of my truck, I notice some artificial trees and shrubs that my wife had bought. We love artificial trees, I guess because we don't have to take the time and energy to keep real trees living. Also it keeps people from knowing how much of a green thumb we don't have. :)

As I start to think about the pros and cons to having a fake tree opposed to having a real and living tree; these thoughts come up....

PROS Fake Tree CONS

PRO*there is no up keep(just dust now and then) CON*its not real, u get to enjoy the smell

PRO*it never dies of plastic

CON*The cost is higher in most cases

Real Tree

PROS CONS

PRO*it's a real tree nothing fake about it CON*you have to take responsibility to

PRO*some trees smell good keep it up so it will grow

PRO*it's neat to watch a tree go through CON*if it is knocked over you might have

stages of growth a mess to clean

PRO*if your not feeding it correctly, it will

show. You learn from your mistakes.

Looking at the pros and cons it you probaly be more fulfilling to have a real tree, but I promise you that is not going to happen because I'm just making an example. :)

I'm sure if you've been in or around church people, you have run into someone who has contradicted themselves. They say one thing and do the total oppisite. Maybe this is you. I know I have struggled with this more than once, and I have seen the repercussions of it. It ruined any credibility I had with certain people and now they are more confused about a faith in Jesus Christ than before I even opened my mouth. Then there are some that come into church on any given day and act like thay have it altogether. I have fallen into that category also. We put a mask on to cover up our hurt or shame.

How does that help people on the outside looking in? If they see that it looks like we have it altogether and they know that they are not even close; do you think they are going to come in swarms to the church?

Jesus didnot teach this. He actually taught agianst it. In Matthew 23:25 Jesus calls out the religous leaders and says, "Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy, full of greed and self-indulgence! You blind Pharisee! First was the inside of the cup and the dish, and the outside will become clean too."

There are millions of people here in the U.S. who are searching for something real and genuine and I promise you most of them are not flocking the church. Be real and honest with people, I don't mean you have to throw all of your garbage out where everyone can see it because in the world we live in you could be smeared across the wall, but if youe see someone hurting or struggling with something, you might just be the one God uses to show them love and compassion.

Phillip Yancey, in his book What's so Amazing about Grace? makes this conclusion:

Having spent time around "sinners" and also around purported saints, I have a hunch why Jesus spent so much time with the former group: I think He preferred their company. Because the sinners were honest about themselves and had no pretense, Jesus could deal with them. In contrast the saints put on airs, judged him, and sought to catch Him in a moral trap. In the end it was the saints, not the sinners, who arrested Jesus.