Are You for Real?

Have you ever told anyone something that was just too good to be true and they responded with, “Are you for real?” Maybe they just looked at you like you were crazy! Whatever the case, they were trying to determine if you were telling them the truth or not. How important is telling the truth? Let's find out!

Do you know the difference between the real McCoy and a fake? A Chinese boy who wanted to learn about jade went to study with a talented old teacher. This gentle man put a piece of the precious stone into his hand and told him to hold it tight. Then he began to talk of philosophy, men, women, the sun and almost everything under it. After an hour he took back the stone and sent the boy home. The procedure was repeated for several weeks. The boy became frustrated. When would he be told about the jade? He was too polite, however, to question the wisdom of his venerable teacher. Then one day, when the old man put a stone into his hands, the boy cried out instinctively, 'That's not jade!'" [H. Robinson, Biblical Preaching.]

What lesson do you think the gentle man was trying to instill in this young boy? If it was being able to tell the real think from a fake, then his lesson was very effective. We need lessons like this in our lives so that we will not fall prey to that which is not real.

An estimated 10,000 physicians have phony foreign medical degrees that brought one broker of fraudulent diplomas $1.5 million over three years, a congressional panel was told Friday. Claude Pepper, Democrat-Florida, said many American citizens may be receiving medical treatment from doctors who lied on their medical school loan applications, and used the money not to go to school but to pay a broker for fake documents claiming they completed school and training. Pedro DeMesones, now serving a three-year prison sentence for mail fraud and conspiracy, told the panel that in three years of "expediting" medical degrees, he provided about 100 clients with false transcripts showing they had fulfilled medical requirements of schools they didn't attend. "Clients paid me from $5225 to $27,000 for my services, " DeMesones said. "In all I earned about $1.5 million in those three years. I only got to keep about $500,000 of this total. The rest went for bribes and expenses." [Spokesman Review, December 8, 1984.]

Do you feel like maybe you have been to see some of these doctors? There are fakes everywhere and how do we tell the real from the false! Maybe we have to learn the hard way sometimes but once that happens we should start doing our due diligence by doing some research. We realize how important this is to our physical welfare but what about our spiritual welfare? Have you given that any consideration at all?

There is false or counterfeit religion out there and you need to stay far, far away from it. You will find false Christs (Matt. 24:24); false ministers (2 Cor. 11:14, 15); false Christians (Gal. 2:3, 4); and false teachers and apostles (2 Pet. 2:1) also. What we want to make sure of is that we do not fall into any of these counterfeit categories ourselves. Are you for real? Only you and God know the answer to that question. Just remember that the truth will find you out!

In Christian love,