Counterfeit

When I was in Athens a few weeks ago I had a conversation with a good friend of mine. I really like this girl because she is boldly honest and the gospel affects her life in such a way that she isn't afraid to tell you that life is crappy and profane and in the same breath that it is joyful and wonderful. She and I were talking about how so often in life we see something we want and work to get it, but the way in which we do it gives us a result that is counterfeit because what we want is not something we can work for, it is something that either just is or is given to us. For example, I have heard countless youth groups or churches strive for unity. They do team builders, activities, small and large groups, but nothing seems to really give them what they are looking for. That's because unity doesn't come from team builders it comes from having the same goal. Another example is modesty. A person can learn to wear more clothes or even behave appropriately, but they haven't really learned modesty until they encounter Christ and it flows from them.
I have been thinking about this concept for awhile now. How do you avoid the counterfeit results? Because things like unity and modesty are important, really important and we should be teaching these things. But I don't want cheap unity or modesty or anything else for that matter. The answer seems simple enough: the Gospel. That's the only way for real change. It comes through the work of the gospel in your life...it's called sanctification. And the problem that we have with it is that it takes time and it is painful. The process of becoming more like Christ sucks, but it is good. And real. There is nothing counterfeit about it and that is what we really want, but we have to give up control for that to happen and that is hard. Faith is hard. But that is what I want for myself and the people around me. I want lives changed and continually being changed by the gospel not cheap, man-made results.
In order to know when something is counterfeit, you have to know the real thing so well that nothing else will do. That should be our standard. Resolving to know Christ and His work in our lives so well, that man-made results just won't do.