TRUE OR FALSE?

He presented another parable to them: "The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field. But while people were sleeping, his enemy came, sowed weeds among the wheat, and left. When the plants sprouted and produced grain, then the weeds also appeared. The landowner's slaves came to him and said, 'Master, didn't you sow good seed in your field? Then where did the weeds come from?' 'An enemy did this!' he told them. 'So, do you want us to go and gather them up?' the slaves asked him. 'No,' he said. 'When you gather up the weeds, you might also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest. At harvest time I'll tell the reapers: Gather the weeds first and tie them in bundles to burn them, but store the wheat in my barn.'"

Fakers. They are everywhere. In the world. In the church. In Sunday School. Like the darnel that masqueraded as wheat, fakers masquerade as Christians. They dress, talk, and look like the real thing. But their hearts are still corrupt...unredeemed...bent on living for themselves rather than bowing to the rule of Christ. Jesus tells us to let them be, in hopes that they will recognize their need for the Lord. Their eternal destinies are at stake. Heaven is forever, but so is hell.

Be on guard. Jesus said as the wheat and the weeds grow together, their roots become entertwined. In other words,just as Christian imposters are in a position to be influenced for good, real Christians are in danger of being pulled into evil. How can that happen, you say?

• Engaging in conversation that is unwholesome, critical, filled with crude jokes, or grumbling. It can happen at a Connect Six gathering, at a flag football game, or over lunch. How much of the conversation is filled with encouragement, gratitude, wholesome laughter, and the Truth of the Lord? Would you be embarrassed to discover that you were talking on an open mic and the tape would be played during our next class?
• Being pulled into an apathetic spirit of noncommitment. Joining in only when something sounds like "fun" or when there is sure to be something in it to benefit ME is being committed not to the things that honor God and grow our faith, but to things that honor ME and grow my sense of ego or satisfaction. I know that may sound juvenile, but it is, after all, childish and immature behavior.
  
• Through your fellowship with others, is your faith increasing and your love for the Lord deepening? Or are you being pulled into a love for things, for pleasure, for self-satisfaction? Is your love for other class members deepening or have you become mostly critical of all but a handful of people? Is your life beginning to line up with scriptural truth you are learning, and are others encouraging you and supporting your desire to conform to the commands of Christ?
  

Are you true or false? Real or fake? The only reality in this world is Jesus Christ. Everything else is a mirage. There is nothing in this life worth playing games for because in the end all that will matter is Jesus. HE is the Alpha and Omega..the beginning and the end.

If you are a child of God, then stand for the Truth that has set you free from sin. STAND UP. Speak out in the company of those who are faking it. Draw a line in the sand that will prevent them from blending in. Perhaps then they will be exposed to the truth that will bring to the One who loves them and wants to adopt them as His own. None of us knows when the curtain will draw to a close. But one day it most certainly will. And if our lives were nothing more than a drama, we will never hear the applause of the only One who matters.