The real deal...

If you know anything about me at all you know that I am an avid golfer. I love golf!

Well, recently I had a minor tragedy on the golf course. My Scotty Cameron putter lost a weight in the front of the club. I was devastated. I contacted the organization and they told me to take it to a retailer and they will return it to get it fixed. So I took it to a local retailer in Reno and he told me he would take care of her...(yes, I said her).

After a few moments he came back to me as I was looking at other things in the shop I could easily covet, and he asked "Mr. Idle did you buy that putter here?" "Nope", I said, "I bought on E*&y a few years ago." Then he told me the terrible news. "Well", he said, "I am sorry to tell you this, but it is a fake." All that went through my mind was: What?! Not my Scotty! Then what went through my mind was I paid that much money for a fake? I felt foolish.

Fakes are never, and I mean never, as good as the real thing! The same is true with our faith. Scriptures tell us that true religion, the faith God accepts as pure is this: "to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1:27

This past weekend was "Superbowl" weekend for the church. Resurrection Sunday. It was an awesome weekend. We had our highest attendance in the short history of Journey, 360 people showed up. It was a great feeling. But it was a feeling. The real success of ministry is not in attendance alone, although I think numbers are a sign of health, but the real success of the church is how they are doing in meeting the needs of the needy AND how they are pursuing holy living.

Now I want to be careful here, but I think sometimes the church and sometimes pastors can fall for a sort of "fake" success. We get a lot of people to come to our church and feel that that can mean success. Don't get me wrong, I love it when people come to the church and our seats are full and all of that...but the real religion of Journey needs to that we meet the needs of our community AND live holy lives.

So let me stop and ask you: If your a pastor, is your church meeting the needs of the community in which God has placed you? AND pastor or not, are you pursuing holy living? Are you trying "...to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." You see, I can fool you, but I can't fool God. One day I will stand before the Father and He will have seen through all the "stuff" and see the real me. He won't be impressed because I was the pastor of a growing church or that I said the right things and looked the right way. He is looking for me to lead people in meeting the needs of others and He is looking for me to keep myself from getting polluted by the world. That is what is real to Him. That is not fake...it's the real deal.

Take care,

Rod