Counterfeit Christianity (Matthew 24:24-25)
"For false messiahs and false prophets will rise up and perform great signs and wonders so as to deceive, if possible, even God’s chosen ones. See, I have warned you about this ahead of time."(Matthew 24:24, 25 NLT)
This is the second time in the same chapter Jesus has warned His followers about the very real danger that will stem from those giving false representations of true faith during the last days. One such warning ought to concern us; two warnings ought to alarm us.
Before the end comes, believers will face the threat of false prophets and false messiahs. At first glance it's easy to dismiss these verses as if they only apply to "those people". You know, those poor misguided victims of cults who are hopelessly deluded by an obviously devious leader with a criminal record. But if there was no real danger, Jesus wouldn't have warned us repeatedly to keep our guard up.
But I don't think Jesus had only "those people" in mind. Remember Jesus is warning "His" disciples. The guys who literally walked around and hung out with Him daily for three years. If there was a contest for recognizing a Jesus impersonator they would easily win first place.
We hear the words "false messiahs" and "false prophets" and automatically think weird cults while Jesus has in mind a much more serious threat. All one really needs in order to qualify as a false Messiah is to attempt to point others more towards themselves instead of Christ. Anyone who claims to speak for God yet misrepresents His point of view could easily qualifies as a false prophet.
On any given Sunday there are multiple thousands who fill such roles and on some level meet these criteria. Who hasn't ever met an ego-driven preacher (or eight)? Who hasn't heard a sermon (or entire series) that totally misrepresented God's heart on a plethora of issues? And who hasn't been the guy/gal only half-way paying attention while ignorantly nodding along in agreement? At some point we all have.
Clearly Jesus isn't suggesting adopting a critical spirit towards your pastor or engaging in biblical witch hunts, but He certainly is advocating the kind of vigorous spiritual discernment necessary for maintaining genuine faith.
But this level of discernment requires that we truly get to know the Jesus of Scripture, whose name is the Word of God (Revelation 19:13). Do we really know His voice? Do we know His presence? Are we intimately acquainted with Jesus Himself or is He more of an acquaintence we hear about on Sunday?
If we're not careful any one of us are susceptible to being led astray from Christ and His truth. Jesus said it was at least a real possibility (vs 24), and based upon our response to such counterfeits our faith in the real Christ will either get stronger or slowly begin to erode.
Seems to me that the only real defense against developing a counterfeit faith (one that appars real prior to close examination) is an up-close and personal experience with The God of the Word; but that only happens through an consistent experience with the Word of God and a continual exposure to the light of its truth.
This is the second time in the same chapter Jesus has warned His followers about the very real danger that will stem from those giving false representations of true faith during the last days. One such warning ought to concern us; two warnings ought to alarm us.
Before the end comes, believers will face the threat of false prophets and false messiahs. At first glance it's easy to dismiss these verses as if they only apply to "those people". You know, those poor misguided victims of cults who are hopelessly deluded by an obviously devious leader with a criminal record. But if there was no real danger, Jesus wouldn't have warned us repeatedly to keep our guard up.
But I don't think Jesus had only "those people" in mind. Remember Jesus is warning "His" disciples. The guys who literally walked around and hung out with Him daily for three years. If there was a contest for recognizing a Jesus impersonator they would easily win first place.
We hear the words "false messiahs" and "false prophets" and automatically think weird cults while Jesus has in mind a much more serious threat. All one really needs in order to qualify as a false Messiah is to attempt to point others more towards themselves instead of Christ. Anyone who claims to speak for God yet misrepresents His point of view could easily qualifies as a false prophet.
On any given Sunday there are multiple thousands who fill such roles and on some level meet these criteria. Who hasn't ever met an ego-driven preacher (or eight)? Who hasn't heard a sermon (or entire series) that totally misrepresented God's heart on a plethora of issues? And who hasn't been the guy/gal only half-way paying attention while ignorantly nodding along in agreement? At some point we all have.
Clearly Jesus isn't suggesting adopting a critical spirit towards your pastor or engaging in biblical witch hunts, but He certainly is advocating the kind of vigorous spiritual discernment necessary for maintaining genuine faith.
But this level of discernment requires that we truly get to know the Jesus of Scripture, whose name is the Word of God (Revelation 19:13). Do we really know His voice? Do we know His presence? Are we intimately acquainted with Jesus Himself or is He more of an acquaintence we hear about on Sunday?
If we're not careful any one of us are susceptible to being led astray from Christ and His truth. Jesus said it was at least a real possibility (vs 24), and based upon our response to such counterfeits our faith in the real Christ will either get stronger or slowly begin to erode.
Seems to me that the only real defense against developing a counterfeit faith (one that appars real prior to close examination) is an up-close and personal experience with The God of the Word; but that only happens through an consistent experience with the Word of God and a continual exposure to the light of its truth.
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