Counterfeit Jesus

29But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”30Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31“Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32“Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 33“But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34“So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35“On the next day, jwhen he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’36“So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”37And he said, “He who showed mercy on him.”Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do likewise.”
Luke 10: 29 - 37 NKJV

A discussion this week took us into the question of how we would tell someone else about God.  Well, most people don't follow this advice, but I rarely follow the words of others.  Talk is cheap.  No, I watch what you do and not listen to what you tell me.  There are plenty of counterfeit Jesus' out there who will fill many people with the words of the gospel, or at the very least their own interpretation of it.  The apostle Paul warns us to beware of those people around us {1 John 4:1}.  Believe me, I've been approached by every Tom, Dick and Harry christian there is, all telling me how it is that I need to follow their advice to good christian living.  Yeah, if I needed your help, dude, I would have asked for it.  The counterfeit Jesus, described as the spirit of error by Paul, may be one of the largest ministries anyone has ever seen.  It seems that anyone who is anyone in the christian faith has a opinion on what we should to do please God.  Again, if I wanted your help I would have asked for it buddy.  Add to this that there may be as many interpretaions of the scripture as the day is long and you have a breeding ground for many a false teacher.  So, how would I tell someone else about God?  Well, first off I would do away with the institutional BS and tell them right off that they don't need to look too far to find Him.  Indeed, Paul tells us that it is Christ Jesus who lives through us {Galations 2:20}.  However, many times I find that this description gets me nothing but a blank stare.  So, I ask the question.  What does your heart tell you?  For it is to our hearts that our Heavenly Father will speak.  There have been many times where some counterfeit Jesus has thrown some cool sounding scripture at me, yet my heart was uneasy.  It is for this very reason that find the practice of throwing scripture at someone who is hurting to be so reprehensible.  Who am I to tell my brother how he should perform?  I'm am not, nor have I ever been, a pastor.  Yet, somewhere along the way we christians came to believe that quoting scriptures was a damn good way to make someone feel better.  Far from it.

20If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
1 John 4: 20 NKJV

More often than not, when others quote scripture to me, it is done to promote some sort of condemnation.  What these counterfeit Jesus' are really saying is, Scott, you need to be doing this or that.  Now, granted, God can definately use those around us to speak into our hearts as well.  However, I don't believe that God would use someone elses words to put me to shame or to condemn me.  That isn't who He is.  What many people of the counterfeit Jesus crowd don't realize is that God...is Love {1 John 4:16}.  Knowing this truth in my heart has show me many a counterfeit Jesus agenda.  I am not of the opinion that God is a angry God bent on lording over me with the threat of punishment if I don't tow the christian line.  Yet there are those out there who continue to practice a performance based branch of christianity.  If I only pray harder, give more or do more then God will surely be happy with me and save me from His wrath.  Tell me, how does the love of God fit into that narrative?  Has God delivered me into fellowship with Him only to use me as a convenient punching bag for His anger?  The counterfeit Jesus crowd would have us think so.  However, in my heart I know that the love my heavenly Father has for me transcends whatever man can, and will, throw my way.  I'm not turning my back on God.  On the contrary, I'm turning my back on your interpretation of Him.  I'm rejecting the condemnation, hurt feelings and sadness which every counterfeit Jesus has ever used against me.  As I said, in our hearts we will know what is true and what is not.  This is how we are to test the spirits.  The next time counterfeit Jesus comes knocking you will have a answer for him. 

~Scott~