Faking It with Building Materials and Service to God

~Tracy Frederick

We made a last minute change of plans for lunch and decided to turn around. The unexpected u-turn put us driving through one of the most “exclusive” suburb in town. As we traveled through the streets adjacent to the golf courses, we admired the homes at first, and then we realized the homes all looked really nice from the front, but they all had “facades.” Façade means: the way something or somebody appears on the surface, especially when that appearance is false or meant to deceive.  That is, the front had brick, or stone, but the sides and the back, were just siding. People are supposed to admire the front, but not look at the sides or the back.  It reminded me of an old friend we visited recently who could not wait to show us his big new house. The home was nice, but it had faux wood floors and faux stone. He was very proud that few people could tell the difference, although we did right away.  Now, don’t misunderstand me, I am not criticizing and understand budget constraints that happen when building a house. But as I looked at the façade homes, I thought about our Christianity and how we often go to great lengths to make ourselves “look” like Christians to others, thinking we can fool them into believing we are the real deal. We may even live in fear that others will find us out. But, they probably already know, right? However, the most important One that can see past it all, past all of the façade has known all along. We do it, but it never works, does it? We can’t fake it with God: “I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind…” Jer. 17:10. It seems to me that we are living in a world right now that sells us on the idea that a similar/fake thing is just as good as the real one. We all know that isn’t true, but when it comes to figuring out the budget, we sometimes buy into the idea that a fake is just as good to save some bucks. Perhaps we are also buying into that idea when it comes to our service to our Lord…you know…to save a few bucks (time, energy, etc.)   Remember when our God was angry with the Israelites because they were offering unclean sacrifices (Malachi 1; Lev 22) Facades are ok when it comes to our homes, maybe, but our service to our God, can’t be faked on a budget.