Watch Out!

If I had money, I would buy watches – several different watches – so I could wear a different one every couple of weeks. In fact, I might buy “genuine replica” watches, to enhance the look, if not the value, of my chronological portfolio.

“Genuine replica” is a watch genre I discovered tonight during a Web search. They are time pieces made to look like, but not cost like expensive brands such as Rolex. What makes them “genuine” replicas (isn’t that phrase a hoot!!) is the quality of the fakery employed in their creation. The design, nameplate, and color scheme accurately reflect what I guess you’d call the “genuine original.”

The advantage of “genuine replica” watches is that owners get the look, feel, and passerby gawks of the real thing, with only a modest investment. For example, you can get a “genuine replica” Rolex Daytona Cosmograph for $159. That’s still a chunk of change, but it’s quite a discount from the original’s $18,000 list price.

Not satisfied? How about a “genuine replica” Rolex Masterpiece – retail value: $80,000 – for just $329?

If I had money, I’d buy several different watches.... But probably not “genuine replicas;” they’re a bit too illegal for my tastes.


I go through seasons in my life when I feel like a genuine replica Christian. I say the right things. I perform the requisite duties. I read the Bible. I speak the prayers. I offer the worship. I throw my tithe in passing offering plates. From all appearances, to the oohs, ahs, and gawks of onlookers, I am a genuine follower of Jesus.

But I know differently. As its owner and manufacturer I know the deception, the fakery, the misdirection my apparent faithfulness employs. I know what’s beneath the surface. I know how to look and sound like one authentically connected. I know when I am going through the motions, when my words and actions, impressive to untrained observers, are feckless shell games whose ultimate objective is to avoid responsibility or accountability.

I assume you go through, or at least are capable of times like these. Whom do you think we’re trying to fool? Others? Ourselves? God? Perhaps it’s that we have little else to offer. Perhaps our bargain with Jesus is, “Lord, these have been hard weeks; if I had more I would give you more. But for now I need you to accept what the little I offer without too many questions. And for goodness’ sake, don’t send people into my path who will call attention to my game playing. Just be patient with me. I’m sure things will turn around. And if they don’t, well, look at all the good I’m doing, even if my heart’s not into it.”

Imagine a room of people wearing fake Rolexes. Impressing each other. Patting each other on the back for the quality and believability of their misdirection. All satisfied that they had achieved notoriety without sacrifice, high class without high effort. That’s what a church of genuine replica Christians is like. People who celebrate personal achievements, appreciate each other’s appearances, but who have forged their reputations.

Rolex sues sellers of fake watches (which are garbage, beneath the glitzy shells, by the way). I wonder how God responds to faked faith?


Pray with me:
I know it’s not enough to claim the name, God. It’s not enough to have the arms and legs and mouth acting right. I need to have the heart beating with your rhythms. Some days, some seasons I don’t, but at least I am aware when they come. Bless my efforts to shorten those seasons and end those days. I don’t want to be like Jesus, if that means "imitating" him. I want him to live through me...at least that’s my conviction in this brief moment of authenticity as I pray in his name, Amen.