Matthew 7:15-16 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?”

I remember shopping for a new watch during my high school years in Kenya. My previous watch had been stolen and I needed something. I was in Nairobi and I saw a watch that looked pretty decent. Nothing fancy except for the name on the watch. In Kenya there is a large market of almost brand name goods. In this case, the watch I bought was branded “NIKF” and at a casual glance you would think it read “NIKE” That watch lasted me not quite a year, but during that year I enjoyed watching people see my watch and saying “Cool! Where did you ever find a Nike watch like that?” and then I would watch their face when I told them it was actually a “Nikf” watch. It was easy to be tricked into thinking it was the real thing at first glance, but a closer look always showed that it was counterfeit. In recent years the US treasury has been re-designing all the bills because of counterfeiters. These guys are good! It looks almost the same and feels the same, but there are a few differences. The counterfeit bills are harder to spot than my counterfeit watch, but if you know what to look for, you can find out which are real and which are faked.

In an ideal world, there would be no fake or counterfeit believers. However, we live in an imperfect world and so we have false Christians in church, false Christians in leadership positions of the church, and even counterfeit Christians in positions of great respect in the Christian world. Some are easily spotted after a second look like my old Nikf watch, but some are very difficult to spot. They look almost the same, they act the same, but there are small differences. We walk with Christ and have the utmost confidence in Him and His mighty power over everything. How we act shows this. The counterfeit Christian does not experience the mighty power of God, and so can not walk in the full knowledge and confidence. The true Christian has the word of God to show the way to a closer relationship with God. The counterfeit Christian may know the Bible backwards and forwards but they do not know the Saviour personally and it shows in everything they do. We need to pray for these false Christians while being on guard and examining everything they say and do.

One of the saddest things, however, is that while there are people out there who purposefully counterfeit righteousness for personal gain, many more people think they are truly Christian who have never really had a relationship with Christ. They say the right things, they act the right way, but they have not internalized their walk and truly reckoned themselves as dead to the world and alive in Christ. These people try their best to walk according to the Bible, but they do not have the love and desire for it that they could have. These people sometimes even seem more Christian that people who have come to the full knowledge and realization of Christ crucified and risen, to the understanding that we now walk by grace! We can not say “Do not do anything with these people” because that is not what Christ would do. We need to be as Christ to them; we should pray for them and walk with them, let them see what Christ is to us. We are to be an example to everyone and an encouragement to the struggling. To those who have chosen counterfeit Christ we should leave in prayer before God and that is all we should do; to everyone else - those who seem Christian and count themselves so but have not truly been resurrected with Christ and those who have accepted Christ's salvation but don't walk with Him as they should – we must not only pray for them but be an example and a teacher. We should continuously witness Christ crucified and risen so that they may be encouraged to seek Christ. We must encourage them to choose the narrow Gate and to aid them along the difficult path instead of the wide and easy way towards destruction. Just as we are His, He wants them to be His as well.

Who do we know that our lives can be an encouragement to as we consciously choose to walk with Christ?