Faking Faith

Have you ever read a story in the Bible and thought I want that!  In Acts I had that happen as I listened and studied the end of chapter 4 and beginning of chapter 5.  In verse 4:33 it says, "And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all."  These are people who have just learned about the resurrection of Jesus from the apostles and had joined the first church.  They had already right out of the gate been threatened by Jewish leaders yet they continued to pray for boldness.  Here we see that they had abundant grace on them all.  The English Standard Version says "great grace".  I would love a life where I not only had the Lord's grace but great grace in my life.  This as I read is like the boldness these people had, it can only be given by the Holy Spirit.

As the story continues we learn about two similar acts for the church and one is filled with blessing and the other with death.  A man named Barnabas sold his land and gave all the proceeds to the church.  He would soon travel all over sharing the love of Jesus.  We also see another couple named Ananias and Sapphira, they would also sell their land for the church.  However, they kept a portion back for themselves and when they gave the money to the church they were immediately struck down dead.  I will admit that I used to believe it was because they kept money back and did not give it all to the church.  We see in chapter 5:4 the real reason they died.  "While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own? And after it was old, was it not under your control?  Why is it that you have conceived this deed in your heart?  You have not lied to men but to God."   You see in this verse we see that it was the goal of Ananias and Sapphira to make the church and people think that they gave God everything from that purchase even though they kept a portion for themselves.  Here is a perfect picture of hypocrisy and desiring for people to think we are something we are not.  I love how my Pastor put it, he said that "who we are on the inside needs to drive what we do on the outside."  We see Luke warning us not to fake our faith, because no matter what we do it is always in front of God.

Another thing my Pastor said was, "We are dependent for the Spirit of God to do a work in our lives that has such an impact that it is reflected on the outside."  Each time we spend time in the Word, prayer or praise with our Lord we find ourselves growing, learning, being encouraged and strengthened.  As all this builds in our lives it will be reflected in our words, actions and lives on the outside.  I am constantly telling my 4th grade Sunday school class that we need to be living water.  We need to be a geyser that as we spend time with the Lord the joy, grace and love of Jesus cannot help but explode out of our lives.  We see this in Barnabus because as he gave this gift the Lord did such a work in his life that he left it all to travel and teach about Jesus.  On the other hand, Ananias and Sapphira just wanted to give the appearance of sacrifice without truly believing in and having true faith in what they were doing.  For them it was all about the show, they wanted people to pat them on the back and say wow aren't you "spiritual".  Thier problem is that God sees the heart and there was a real difference with both of these gifts.  Ananias and Sapphira had no living water.

One of the closing points my Pastor made was this, when the Holy Spirit is working in my life then I will begin to love people more and love my stuff less.  Do I value people coming to faith in Christ more than I love my things, my social status, and my money.  Is my life truly reflecting Christ?  What do you think the current church/people would be like if we all desperately asked the Lord to give us such great boldness, love for each other and grace like this first church had.  You see we are living in a broken world where millions and millions still have not heard the gospel.  What are we doing to spread the name of Jesus.  I am not saying that having nice things is wrong and I know that is not what my Pastor was saying either.  My point here is this, I want God to do such a great work in my life that my focus is not on getting a bigger house, a nicer car, wearing the latest fashions, because I know how naturally vain I am.  I want God to do such a work in my life that my goal is to reach a point I am doing all I possibly can to further the gospel in this world.  Not only by giving but by doing, by seeking the Lord for opportunities and most of all by making sure that what is in my heart is true faith and not hypocrisy.  I want to end with part of the lyrics from the song So Long Self by Mercy Me, to me it sums up the desires of my heart.  I want to leave my selfish desires and place all I have in Jesus.

Well if I come across a little bit distant

It's just because I am

Things just seem to feel a little bit different

You understand

Believe it or not but life is not apparently

About me anyways

But I have met the One who really is worthy

So let me say

So long, self

Well, it's been fun, but I have found somebody else

So long, self

There's just no room for two

So you are gonna have to move