Faking It

This morning someone didn't comment on my blog post yesterday.  No news there except that I dreamed they did.  I woke from a very vivid dream this morning where someone had left a comment on Facebook in response to my blog post yesterday concerning "Rotten People".  While I don't remember the comment exactly, it boiled down to saying that sometimes you just have to fake it.  That got me thinking and today's post was born from a dream comment.  :)

Does loving other people require faking it?  NO!  That is not to say that people don't fake it.  There are plenty of Christians out there, and I think that fully includes pastors, that are faking it.  They feel there is an expectation on their behavior, they may feel the pull of the Biblical mandate on life, and decide that the most important thing is to show it, no matter what.  They may be very sincere in this desire.  Pretend to like someone, pretend to have this Christian life/personal life/family life thing figured out and nailed down, at least in the basics.  After all, we are to be witnesses and examples.  We might hurt people's feelings.  We might hurt the cause of Christ!  So we fake it.  Maybe a little, maybe a lot, but we put out there what it should look like, even if it means concealing or papering over what is really there.

I think it is all too common.  It is also wrong, and more destructive than people realize.

First, faking love is like faking electricity (not that I have any idea how you "fake" electricity).  There's no real power there, but it looks like there is.  It is all human effort and nothing of God.  1 Corinthians 13 makes it very clear that all the minstry in the world without love is worth nothing.  It is just noise.  If I simply pretend to like people in the church, simply pretend to like the individuals or churches that are difficult, I might make it look convincing, but there will be no power behind it and the Holy Spirit will do no work.   I believe part of the reason that we don't experience the Spirit's power in the church today is that we forfeit the powerful love that is the essence of God and is the key to the work of the Holy Spirit.  We are nice to each other and we fake it, but there is no power, no electricity.

Second, faking your walk with God, whether in big or small ways, destroys the chance of real ministry.  The appearance of ministry may still take place.  Church functions and programs can be planned and carried out with efficiency and success.  Attendance may be fine.  Real ministry, where lives are changed and disciples made, will not take place, and that is the true work of God.  That is true ministry.  Church activity is nothing but busy-ness unless disciples are being built and disciplemakers equipped.   In 1 Thessalonians 2, Paul makes it clear that an important part of his ministry to them was the sharing of his life.  He makes it clear to Timothy that watching how Paul lived was part of how Timothy was to learn to be a disciplemaker.  When we give a fake version, a cleaned up, sanitized, dishonest view of our lives, we completly remove that primary and crucial ministry tool.   When it comes to the men that I am discipling and equipping, if I can't display and discuss my failures, my shortfalls, and my struggles, than I have nothing to offer in terms of life-changing ministry.

You can fake it, but you must not.  Faking it produces fake ministry and fake results, which is a fancy way of saying, nothing real will happen.  So, I guess we have to truly learn to love our enemies, to love and forgive those that hurt, disappoint, spitefully use us.  When the spiritual babies, when the christian sheep, poop all over us, we must, through the awesome real power of the Holy Spirit, truly love and delight in them.  The power of ministry will suddenly surge and disciples will begin to appear.