Counterfeit

           I was driving in town the other day when I looked up and noticed a billboard.  Because I passed it quickly, I thought it was advertizing Chick-fil-a because of the font, the succinct three-word suggestion, and the picture of a Holstein cow as the mascot.  But, still, it didn’t look right and I didn’t know why.  A day or two later, I passed the billboard again and I actually examined it that time.  What I saw surprised me.  It wasn’t an advertisement for Chick-fil-a, but an advertisement for another restaurant in town.  They had used the same font, the same formula, and even the same kind of cow, but it was different.  And, then I noticed that there was a chicken on top of the cow, something I hadn’t noticed the first time even though it was right there, plain as day.  And, then (this is what took me aback), I actually read what the three-word suggestion said.  I thought it would be advertizing some chicken dish, but I was wrong; instead, it said, “Drink More Margaritas.”  Though there were similar elements between what I originally thought it was and what it actually was, the two were VERY different.  And, I just wonder, out of the hundreds of people who have passed that billboard, how many of them have even noticed the differences or cared.

            You know, this is the case with the religious world today.  There is the Church of King Jesus the Christ (Matthew 16:16-18; Matthew 28:18; Acts 2:33-36; 1 Timothy 6:13-16) and there are religious groups which are similar to it to varying degrees, but VERY different.  The Church of Christ looks to the Bible as THE source of authority for whatever it does (Colossians 3:17) because it is truth (John 17:17; Psalm 119:160) and that which will judge us in the Last Day (John 12:47-50).  This is while the rest of the religious world (despite any declaration to the contrary) looks to some other source of authority (e.g., a Pope, a council, quorum, a handbook, “another testament,” an “indescribable feeling,” etc.) for what it does.  The Church of Christ worships God in both spirit and in truth (John 4:23-24) while the rest of the world “worships” God but do so in vain (Matthew 15:9).  The Church of Christ is entered into by those who have heard the Gospel of Christ and believed it (Romans 10:17) to the point of obedience to its invitation to be saved by it (Romans 1:16-17; 10:9-10; Acts 2:37-47; Romans 6; Colossians 1:13-14).  This is while every other religious organization is entered into by any other means for any other reason.  The point is that, despite some similarities between the Lord’s Church and every other religious group in the world, they are VERY different.  And, again, I just wonder how many of the billions of people who go to counterfeit churches ever notice all of the differences between their church and the One True Church of Christ.  And, I wonder how many of them care.

            We are called to be people who care (1 Corinthians 16:14).  We are called to help the world see the light of the truth and to encourage them to obey it no matter the cost (Matthew 28:19-20; 2 Timothy 4:2).  Therefore, for the remainder of this week and on, let’s do what we’re called to do.  Let’s talk with our family members and our neighbors and co-workers and schoolmates and so on about the Lord’s One True Church and encourage them to see the differences and appropriately react to the truth, to leave their counterfeit religion and to finally bow before King Jesus.

~Curtis Carwile