THE REAL IS BETTER THAN THE COUNTERFEIT

Date: Sun Aug 5 23:47:32 2007

This seems like a no-brainer, but it seems that some folks still donít really believe it! Donít forget, counterfeit things come ìcheapî ñ at least at first! Copying money on a color laser copier is easier than earning it! Buying a counterfeit Rolex watch is cheaper than buying a real one. Hiring an unqualified person to do the job can seemingly make you look like a good steward.

Following a counterfeit gospel promises you everything a Christian expects (and then some!), but requires you to submit LESS to Jesus Christ than you would otherwise. Hence the appeal! An easier way to SUPPOSEDLY get the goodies applies to each example.

Whatís wrong with easy? Whatís wrong with a bargain? Several things ñ first, the promise is not the reality. If you copy those fifty dollar bills, they may buy you some wanted goodies FOR A WHILE, but once you get caught, you will not be able to use those goodies in jail. That counterfeit Rolex may fool a few people, but it wonít last very long and if you try to sell it, you wonít get very much. Buying counterfeit professional services from an unlicensed doctor, lawyer, accountant, or architect may seem like an incredible bargain until everything catches up and you realize you have wasted everything. I know ñ I am a REAL architect, and sometimes people call me after hiring a ìpretenderî. They canít get a building permit, or nothing works the way it is supposed to. They have lost a lot of time and money. As bad as those types of losses are, those that involve money, time, and perhaps your reputation, your job, and perhaps at worst the comforts of home as you sit in a jail cell, believe it or not, there are even worse outcomes.

If you preach and/or accept a counterfeit gospel, you may get a lot of goodies by exploiting your followers and the devil may actually allow you to do some miracles. However, when you face the Lord one day not too long from now, you will go through the same spiel you have spouted endlessly, and Jesus Christ will say to you and your colleagues, ìdepart from me, I never knew you, you workers of iniquityî.

So the counterfeit is not good. Why then, do seemingly intelligent people time and again choose the counterfeit over the real? Many people believe they are smarter than they really are. Some buy the counterfeit unknowingly ñ the price or the deal is ìtoo good to be trueî, but their pride and arrogance makes them feel they are the ìsmartî ones. They have discovered what the rest of the world has not. They have found the way to do a $5,000 job for $750. They have found a car for 30% fewer dollars than a car of that condition should cost. I know someone who actually did that TWICE. Someone who knows a fair amount about cars ñ who has owned many. He flew out to the Midwest to buy a sports car at a ìtoo good to be trueî price. The dealer said he was going out of business. The Car Fax number checked out ñ but the serial the dealer gave for the Car Fax did not match the actual serial number on the car. It was a rebuilt car and had to sit through a long process before it could be legal in this state. Before he found out, he bought a luxury car in Virginia and that too was rebuilt! Two counterfeits. At least they both turned out to be good cars, but he paid too much for each, and could never sell them for what they APPEAR to be worth.

The desire to save money at all costs, whether on a purchase, some

services, or in other ways, can bring heartache and great loss.

However, the loss that occurs when we deviate from the Word of God, when we sacrifice the wonderful reality of an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ for a ìgospelî of wealth, fame, and ìself- fulfillmentî, is the ultimate tragedy. A life that is real, that is joyful, that is filled with service to God, to the body of Christ, and to our fellow man, is left unlived. In its place is a life given to pleasure, to exploitation, and to the worship of that which can never satisfy.

Unfortunately, so many people who have bowed before the altars of selfishness, money, and adulation spend this capital their entire lives believing it is right because no one has detected the counterfeit. Counterfeit money, art, coins, stamps, and the like can pass through numerous hands before being detected. When an expert sees the counterfeit, he knows right away. Anyone with a good working knowledge of the Bible, the word of God, should be able to spot the counterfeit at ìfirst smellî! However, if your heart is not right, even the mature can be deceived. Be sure your heart is totally committed to Jesus Christ. Be in fellowship with true believers, and ask questions ñ lots of questions ñ of those who have been in the way longer than you! If you gain the whole world, but lose your own soul, what profit have you? Lose your life, give it to Christ, and the reality of new life in Christ will make you THRILLED you passed by all the counterfeits in life.

There isnít even a remote comparison - the REAL is better than the COUNTERFEIT!