by Anna Aquino

Created on: April 23, 2009

I'll trade you two fake smiles for a pretentious, "I'm praying for you."

While Jesus was on the earth he spoke a lot about hypocrites. Similar to hypocrites there is a mindset that as penetrated the church at large. It's what I call "fake Christians." These are ones who pretend they have your back. They'll smile at you and be social when all the while you're expecting them to gossip about you behind your back. They'll look at you in the eyes and tell you their praying for you, but really deep down they don't care about you. If you try to talk to them they always have a way with making you feel small and insignificant. These are ones who put on a show for everyone, but deep inside there are issues. I personally believe that many, including myself sometimes, have gotten so caught up in our own lives that we've lost all compassion and caring for our brothers and sisters in the Lord.

Jesus was moved by compassion. Matthew 9:36
"But when He saw the multitudes, He was moved with compassion for them, because they were weary and scattered, like sheep having no shepherd." Jesus later goes on and many were healed that day. We must wake up from our selfishness and self-centeredness church. We must start looking past ourselves if we are ever going to be an influence for the kingdom of God.

The world has had it with "fake Christians". They want to see real people with real struggles. They want to see people that aren't perfect and everything isn't hunkey doorey. They need to see Christ in us, not a fake persona that once you come to Christ you'll never go through anything. People in the world need to see a real Jesus!

What if God were to be fake with us? Matthew 18:18
The Message Bible
"Take this most seriously: A yes on earth is yes in heaven; a no on earth is no in heaven. What you say to one another is eternal. I mean this. When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action. And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there." What if God were to say things to us and put up a front but deep down He didn't mean it? He wouldn't do that. Why? Because God is truth. He cannot lie. When God says something it will happen. God doesn't put up a front for us, so why then do we do it with each other.

It's been my ongoing joke for years pointing out the differences between how men and women deal with things. Men will have a disagreement and just punch each other and that will be the end of it. Women are a lot different. I always say we argue in subtext. It's when they say something but really it wasn't what they said it was the paragraph of words behind it that was implied. It time church we put the subtext down and just be real with people. We do what we're going to say, and we say what we mean.
2 Corinthians 1:17
NKJ, "Therefore, when I was planning this, did I do it lightly? Or the things I plan, do I plan according to the flesh, that with me there should be Yes, Yes, and No, No?"

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