The “Bootleg” Faith

Today, while praying, the thought of “bootleg” went through my mind. I’ve learned, to a degree, to pay attention to those passing thoughts.

Here in Viet Nam, you see a lot of “bootleg”, or “knock-off” products. These are products that are, supposedly, genuine, but are not. They’re phony.

You see bootleg clothing, shoes, backpacks, watches, CDs, motorbikes, and much more. You might even see a product with the brand-name misspelled, it’s so bad here.

I bought an “Adidas” sweatshirt a while back. At first glance, it looked like “the real thing”, but a closer look always reveals reality. I can easily spot the phonies because I know what kind of quality the logos, and stitching, and other such things should have.  Many others get fooled.

May I suggest here that the faith… the church… the “Christianity” we are all so accustomed to and familiar with is a bootleg, and we don’t know the real thing… because we don’t look seriously and thoughtfully at the real thing… or perhaps because we don’t really want to take a good, hard look at it… or maybe because we’re too busy to.

I’m going to present some contrasts between certain aspects of the original faith, and what we know of as the faith today.  Please understand that I’m not saying that the picture I paint of the modern-day Church is totally true of all believers and churches everywhere.  There are certainly exceptions, among congregations and among individual believers.  I’m only trying to show an overall pattern, which I am convinced is true in an overall sense.

Also, understand that I’m not doing this to pass judgment, or set myself up as some high and mighty authority, or even example, of what the genuine faith should be.  I’ve acknowledged, in different ways and places, and will continue to admit, that I am far from having it all together.  This, in my opinion, should not prevent me from speaking openly and honestly about serious issues, as long as I’m not hypocritically claiming I’m doing it all right, when I’m not.

Here, then, are the contrasts I see:

Original: You are confronted with the gospel, along with, most likely, a real demonstration of the power of it, by the hands or lives of those who presented it to you.  You know, right away, that you have a radical, life-changing crossroad before you.  You receive the truth, and now Jesus… along with His purposes and agenda… are the core, central realities of your life.  You live and breathe Jesus and His purposes, along with others, even if you happen to be a slave.  You are now loved by many; despised by even more.

Bootleg:  You are offered, in one way or another, an opportunity to “accept Jesus”, and since God has a wonderful plan for your life, and since you’d like to escape hell and “go to heaven” eventually, you slip up your hand (as every eye is closed and every head bowed), or fill out the “New Believers” card, or perhaps even do something radical, like walk down an aisle.  You then start “going to Church” once or twice a week, singing nice worship songs, and listening to endless sermons, unless you decide to skip it every so often, or even on a semi-regular basis.  Some people don’t like you now; although not for any particular reason.  They just think “Christians” are hypocrites.

Original:  Jesus is now your all-in-all, your beginning and end, your very life.  You couldn’t imagine even surviving without Him and His people.

Bootleg:  Jesus and “salvation” have been added onto your hectic, busy life.  You may say a hearty “Amen!” when you hear sermons about Him being your all-in-all, your beginning and end, your very life, but it’s not a reality… it is “sound doctrine”.

Original:  You, along with your brothers and sisters, take God’s word and the commandments of Jesus, very seriously, particularly the commands to actively love, and to get out from your comfort zone and share His life-changing truth with others… making disciples, not “converts”.  You understand His purpose for leaving you here, and His intentions and desires for those who abide in darkness and death.  Believers do some mind-boggling acts of love and forgiveness.  The Church grows because sinners and pagans are coming out of their darkness.

Bootleg:  You have some vague idea about God’s word and His purposes, but you’re probably hung up on your own “needs”, wants and desires, like everyone else.  You think “loving” as He has loved you means doing something nice for another church member.  You rarely, if ever, share God’s saving truth with anyone because it makes you “uncomfortable”.  If you ever do share, it’s more of a “testimony”, like, “God has sure been good to me,” or inviting a neighbor to Revival Week.  You think disciples get special rewards, on top of getting to go to heaven, but being a disciple is “optional”.  Believers cross the street to avoid those who might look at them funny.  The Church grows (maybe) due to Christians leaving other Churches because they’re not happy with them.

Original:  You enjoy deep relationships with your fellow-believers.  You love one another and need each other.  Things are surely not perfect, since you are all fragile… sometimes even stupid or disobedient… human beings, but the hand, power and grace of the Lord is clearly among you.  Lukewarm or apathetic believers in your midst get very uncomfortable, and generally change for the better, or leave.

Bootleg:  You have very surface relationships, at best, and they usually revolve around all kinds of peripheral things and other “stuff”.  You talk about needing and loving one another, but Mormons and Jehovah’s Witnesses do a better job.  Lukewarm or apathetic believers in your midst feel just fine, along with the many who haven’t even been born of God.

Original:  You and your brethren understand that God fully intends to make your lives a living testimony to grace, holiness and the transforming power of God.  Because of this living reality among you, others join with you, in spite of great personal risk to life, limb and possessions.

Bootleg:  Perhaps there is, and perhaps there isn’t talk about separation and holiness, but it’s not some big issue, especially in light of the fact that fellow church-members know very little about each others actual lives.  To a significant degree, your life looks the same as your unbelieving neighbor’s.

Original:  When you are with other believers, whether it’s only one or many, you see, sense and know that the Lord is among you, leading as He wills, and working through each one in different, special ways.  He also creates divine appointments, and there are regular, incredible testimonies of His presence, love and power.  You are truly amazed by this reality.  You can’t get enough.

Bootleg:  When you are with other believers, it’s almost always “routine”, following man’s ways and agendas, despite all the efforts to disguise that reality.  There are occasional “testimonies”, but you’ve heard them all before, like how God found a new job for Uncle Burt.  You usually can’t wait to get away, to pursue some entertainment of some kind.

Original:  You know and understand that everything you are, have and do is the Lord’s, and it’s all unto Him.  You cling to nothing as your own.

Bootleg:  You get excited about unbiblical teachings and practices like tithing, because you can’t wait to see God bless you with abundant money and stuff.  You’re more than willing to let God have His 10%, as long as there is the promised payoff.  If you’re not in this camp, you grudgingly “pay” your tithes because you have to.

Original:  Believers wouldn’t think of adding to, or taking away from, the Word of God.  Those who tried got pounced upon.

Bootleg:  We don’t think twice about adding to, or taking away from, God’s Word.  We don’t know His Word.

I believe it is apparent that we modern believers and churches do not line up with the original, and I believe it is the responsibility of those of us who see these things to do everything in our power to move back, in concrete ways, toward that original, along with some others.  If we talk about and discuss it, but fail to take practical steps, we are no more than hypocrites.

We also have a responsibility to speak out in love to those who can’t or won’t see these issues.  This is, certainly, the hardest part, since we know that many, or most of them will point accusing fingers at us and say we are “judging”, and we all know what Jesus had to say about that!

There will always be people who look at what is being done here, and on other related blogs, and on the new forum, as self-righteous finger-pointers spouting off and “judging” others.  Those of us who are part of these efforts know differently, because we are involved in a real way, not in a surface way, and, more importantly, God has shown us the truth of these matters.

May we press on, in brokenness and humility, doing what we’re doing, in His love and grace. I believe we all know what’s at stake.

~ by endtimedisciples on November 30, 2008.