Counterfeit spirituality

The other day, a friend of mine was given a counterfeit twenty-dollar bill. It looked like real money, but he knew the feel of the real thing well enough to know instantly that it was not real.

The counterfeiting of money is a criminal endeavor that is practiced all over the world, and when counterfeit notes find their way into circulation they actually have the potential of crippling whole economies. How? If enough counterfeits get into circulation before being discovered, soon people and businesses all over the nation find themselves with money that is useless and cannot be spent once the world is aware of their existence. This has resulted in several cases around the world of real money’s value being decreased and businesses suffering greatly due to not being reimbursed for the fake money they were left with.

This problem in the economic world reminds me of a similar problem in the spiritual world. The problem in that case is the problem of counterfeit spirituality. Some of the greatest damage that has been done to Christian churches is the damage that has been done by people who claim to be followers of Christ but spread poison throughout the church with their un-Christlike attitudes. They know how to “talk the talk” and look like the real thing, but they are not what they seem to be.

One of the most common examples I’ve seen is the example of counterfeit spiritual gifts. I’ve met people who claim to have the gift of prophesy for example, but their character doesn’t match. They prophesy grand things during the church meeting, but during the week they live loveless lives. They treat their neighbors disrespectfully, display dishonesty in their workplaces and judge one another harshly.

For every spiritual gift listed in the Bible, I’ve seen its clever and dangerous counterfeit.

In particular, I have often seen the counterfeit’s clever use of the gift of “discernment.”

Imagine this scene:

A woman comes up to her pastor and says, “I have the gift of discernment.”

The pastor thinks to himself, “Oh no! Here we go…”

Then, for the next hour, he listens as she tells him everything that is wrong with everyone else in the church.

I have talked to so many pastors who have had to deal with this issue! Someone comes into their church who claims to have a spirit of discernment, but their spirit is exposed as one of criticism.

Oswald Chambers was well aware of this counterfeit, which is why he so aptly clarified what the real thing looks like. He said, “Discernment is God’s call to intercession, never to fault-finding.”

Here’s the thing: If you have a spiritual gift, it is there for the building up of the church and never for the tearing down of your brothers. One of the greatest dangers to the Christian church is a judgmental spirit and, sadly, it is often disguised as “spirituality.”

What happens when counterfeit spirituality is allowed to run rampant in the church? It devalues the real thing in the eyes of the world and often leaves churches to suffer once the real thing has been pushed out of the church and only the judgmental spirit remains, feeling itself too good to welcome anybody else into its midst.

I’m really enjoying living in Rosarito and working with Baja Christian Church because I’ve seen so much of the REAL thing here. My only warning is that we not allow ourselves to be lured into the trap of counterfeit spirituality. It’s subtle and can easily find its way into any of our hearts if we do not guard ourselves against it.

The real thing shows itself in character. Galatians 5:22-23 says that “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” These are things that can’t be successfully counterfeited. Anyone knows when they are really being loved and not just treated like a project, and anyone can tell when people are truly good, faithful and kind.

I would suggest that everyone who claims to be a follower of Christ take a moment to ask God to examine their hearts and to show them if there is a trace of counterfeit spirituality anywhere in them. It’s like a leaven that soon finds its way into the whole loaf if it isn’t stopped or, perhaps even more to the point, a cancer that spreads to the whole body if it’s not cut out.

What are some of the symptoms to look out for in ourselves? Well, one obvious symptom is if you are reading this right now and your first and only thought is, “I sure wish so-and-so could read this so that he could get straightened out!” Judgmentalism and a critical spirit are two of the main symptoms of false spirituality. True spirituality never leads to these things. Rather, it leads to grace.

Oswald Chambers spoke wisely when he said of the gift of discernment that, if its real, it will lead you to pray for the other person rather than to start “fault-finding.” This holds true for all the spiritual gifts that God gives His children. He has gifted us all as unique individuals with special, unique gifts to be used for Him. However, those gifts are never rightly used when used AGAINST other people. They are only rightly used when used to build one another up and to demonstrate God’s love to the world around us.

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