Earlier today I was talking to someone when they brought up the topic of fake people. When I hear the word fake, my brain immediately sends a message to my feet that says, "Run!" and I have to plant my feet to the ground so as not to look like a crazy person. I just hate that word. I hate hearing the gossip. I hate the fact that someone is being labeled 'fake' without even knowing it. I hate it.
As Christians, we are a part of the body of Christ. We have a bond with people that we hardly know simply because we both share in the joy of knowing Jesus.
We are called to stand alongside our brothers and sisters in their hardships, to fight with them the battles of this world, and to encourage one another in our faith. This world is a battlefield on which there is a daily fight for our hearts. On our own, it is a battle we cannot win. We need Christ. And just because He is so good, He gives us fellow believers to stand with us in this fight.
"...so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it." 1 Corinthians 12:25-26
I hear friends of mine, mostly believers, call others fake almost daily. Someone is called fake because they wear lots of makeup, or because they have expensive clothes, or just because they posted a selfie with a bible verse. But the very worst one that I hear is that someone is fake because they pretend to be better than they are. I would hope that we are all trying to be better than we are. This isn't pretending. This is effort on our part to rise up from our sinful nature and change who we have been! We are sinners, living in a very fallen world, and because of this, we struggle to be who we are called to be in Christ. We wake up every day starting fresh and then the next thing we know, we are flat on our faces again, crawling back to the cross in search of forgiveness. And when we ask for it, we are wiped clean.
God, the perfect judge, faultless, holy and seated in glory, is gracious to forgive, so please, someone tell me why it seems to be everyones job to point out flaws in everyone else? What makes it okay to call someone who is trying so hard to be like Jesus fake?
Allow me to suggest that people do indeed know that they are screwed up, and that by trying to be better, by sometimes even seemingly putting on a different face, it is not for your benefit but for the benefit of their own personal relationship with the Lord. If they were to walk around all the time being the non perfect human that they are, flaunting their sins, and allowing that to resonate within their lives, then their hearts would be hard and it would be something much more serious to talk about. But the truth is, everyone is struggling. Everyone is falling. Everyone is hurting and seeking and hoping for someone to come alongside them and say, "You are my brother/sister, let me walk with you." The path that we journey on is narrow. The road is rough and along the way, there are those who will try to knock us off. Alone, we are helpless. With God, we are conquerers. And with our brothers and sisters in the Lord, we are an army for Christ -- a force that is not to be reckoned with.
Stand with those God has put in your life as the body of Christ, and give grace to those who need it. We all do. You included.
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