Christmas is just a few days away. Like many Americans, my husband and I dutifully decorated our fake Christmas tree at the beginning of Advent to make our home feel more festive for the holidays. We live in Florida, so we generally try to fit in at least one event during the season featuring fake snow so we can imagine a “White Christmas.” One year, we even made a fake fireplace out of styrofoam and hung our fake stockings on it. We know these things are fake, but we rather enjoy them, and they suit our purposes. I never think of Christmas as less real simply because a few of the trimmings are inauthentic.
A week or so ago, I read an article about a heartless substitute school teacher who told a group of first-graders that Santa Claus was fake. We never did the Santa thing when my kids were little, because…well… we didn’t want to lie to them. Still, I would never have sought to ruin the fantasy and wonder for anyone else’s children by unmasking the jolly bearded fellow as a fake. After all, it’s a fairly harmless story (diatribes against Rudolph’s mistreatment aside), even though, in my opinion, it sometimes distracts families from the true meaning of Christmas. To each his own.
But what would be the result if children never grew up and carried their Santa beliefs into adulthood? [I know, you’re probably thinking about the movie “Elf” and a whole lot of Hallmark Channel movies popular this time of year. But really, wouldn’t we think something was wrong?] What would happen if I sincerely believed my fake Christmas tree was alive and planted it in the front yard after the holidays? [OK. Granted, this would be amusing, but, still, you would think something was wrong with me, right?] If you haven’t already figured it out, let me be the Scrooge here who bursts your bubble and loudly proclaims that there’s a whole lot of fakeness going on in culture today that surpasses Christmas trees and Santa on a grand scale. And it’s not harmless or amusing. It’s wrong.
Once upon a time, we believed if we saw something with our own eyes, it was real. And we pretty much trusted our physical senses. We trusted our book knowledge and our common sense. We collectively knew what was right and wrong, even if we chose what was wrong. But in today’s post-modern culture, there is no longer an objective standard of truth. Each person decides for himself or herself what is right or wrong. But it doesn’t stop there. What began as a rejection of objective morality has resulted in a rebellion against objective reality. Just think for a minute about all the fakeness we encounter every day that rejects reality.
FAKE SCIENCE – Climate change evangelists hysterically warn of imminent, catastrophic – no, make that apocalyptic – peril to the earth because of human activity and industry. Carbon dioxide is now considered a threat to life as we know it (notwithstanding the fact that humans naturally exhale CO2, which plants use to make oxygen). Global warming terminology has been replaced with “climate change,” so if the temperature rises, it proves the theory, and if it falls, it also proves the theory. If we go years without severe weather disturbances, it doesn’t disprove the theory. But as soon as we show an increase, however slight and fleeting, in hurricanes, tornadoes, or earthquakes, that is evidence of man-made climate change. Forget about the science we learned as kids – about ice ages a hundred thousand or 2.4 million years ago, long before the Industrial Revolution or any carbon footprint created by humankind. Apparently, the earth was much cooler at some point. It warmed, then cooled, then warmed again. What caused the warming between ice ages? What’s the ideal temperature of the earth? Does the sun have anything to do with fluctuations in temperatures on the earth? Scientists now say no, but common sense would say otherwise (as well as a number of scientists who have been dubbed “doubters”). And if the projected increase in temperatures is one degree over a hundred years (or even if it were 30 or 40 degrees as hysterical extremists claim), wouldn’t we all simply evolve to adapt to the new climate? Isn’t “survival of the fittest” a good thing? Isn’t that what we’ve been told for the past 150 or so years? Much of what we call “science” today has one purpose, and that’s to support a political agenda by capitalizing on our fears. The real problem with fake science is that no one knows what’s real anymore.
Renowned physicist Steven Hawkings (who died this past March) spent years (from 1976 onward) convincing fellow scientists of the validity of his theory about information loss in black holes. He was comfortable throwing out long-held laws of quantum mechanics and thermodynamics in order to maintain his theories. Then, in 2004, he announced that black holes can’t lose information and set out to prove to those he had earlier convinced that he was wrong then but was right now. All this proves is that scientists don’t truly know anything, and what they vehemently support today they may just as vehemently oppose in 20 years.
FAKE BIOLOGY – While life has a lot of uncertainties and there are opposing views of morality, religion, politics and the like, there used to be facts that we all agreed on. In earlier years, it was a no-brainer that you were born either a boy or a girl, which we defined by one’s unchanging biological apparatus. If you had a uterus, you were female. If you had a thingy (that was the technical term for a man’s you-know-what when I was growing up), you were male. End of story. But today, we’re taught that being male or female is fluid and changeable. Change your clothes, take some hormones, and undergo a few surgical procedures and voila! You can change your sex. Crazy, huh? We’re told that someone who claims to be homosexual was born that way and can’t change their orientation. States like California and Oklahoma have recently proposed or attempted to pass laws criminalizing any activity meant to change a minor’s innate sexual preference (i.e., “conversion therapy”). Preferences can’t be changed, but biology can? Who knew? And we’re now expected to accept fake men and fake women as the real thing – in women’s sports, in bathrooms and locker rooms, etc. This is scientifically enlightened? This is intellectual? It’s amazing that society is promoting and facilitating such delusions even among children. It’s fake: a fake narrative, a fake problem, leading to fake realities.
FAKE IDENTITIES – When I was a teenager, a fake person was a friend who was two-faced or who put on airs to give a false impression of who they really were. Today, people are fake in whole new ways. We have lots of Facebook friends, but most of them don’t know us or care about us. I suspect they’re not really “friends” at all. And those pictures posted on social media? Many of those aren’t real, either. They’re likely to be photoshopped, or they may portray a less-than-real life. Even when we meet someone in person, can we tell what’s real and what’s not? Are they wearing fake nails or fake eyelashes? Have they had liposuction or breast augmentation or butt implants [yes, that’s right, some misguided women actually want their behinds to be larger!]? Is there anything real about the people we meet? People today are plastic. Even their beliefs are whatever someone in the media has told them to believe. They become social justice warriors because that’s what they’ve been taught by some educator. So they wind up with fake outrage, fighting for or against causes they know nothing about.
MORE FAKES – There is fake compassion, fake morality, fake outrage, fake education (e.g., gender studies and feminist literature, today’s equivalent of the “basket-weaving” courses of yesteryear)… not to mention fake history, fake news, fake narratives, fake heritage, and fake free speech. Everywhere we look we see fakeness. Nothing is real. Nothing is certain. Nothing is true and unchanging. Congratulations, post-modernists! Reality has become totally subjective, albeit delusional. But the worst is…
FAKE CHRISTIANITY – This past year, I’ve read articles about “Christian” pastors blessing abortion clinics and same-sex marriages, “Christian” churches picketing other churches for daring to share the hope that God can change a person’s sexual orientation, “Christians” who believe homosexuality and abortion are passé issues that should be ignored in favor of more socially acceptable issues, and “Christian” denominations that advocate breaking our laws by encouraging and aiding illegal immigration. A couple years ago I watched in disbelief as churches closed up shop when Christmas fell on a Sunday. Does anyone else see the absurdity in that? Almost every month I read about pastors who have become addicted to alcohol or pornography or have succumbed to greed or have been accused of child molestation or worse. Is it any wonder that our culture looks at the church and believes all this Jesus stuff is fake? They see fake pastors and fake churches that stand for nothing. It’s a fake Christianity that has a form of godliness but denies its power (2 Timothy 3:1-5). Why would anyone want to be part of a church that promises nothing and has no power? They can get self-help messages online. If Christians are just as likely as non-Christians to get divorced, become addicted to alcohol or obtain abortions, why would anyone want to listen to us or be one of us? We’re preaching a fake Gospel with fake promises and fake results. If the message of the Gospel isn’t helping us, why should they think it will help them?
There is so much fakeness in our world today that no one really knows what’s true and right and real.
But the hope of the Gospel IS real. God is real. And we have a reality to proclaim that is true.
WHAT IS REAL?
- God’s Word – Read it yourself and see what it says. Don’t listen to the teachers playing linguistic gymnastics with the Bible to make it say something it was never intended to say. Read verses and chapters in context and with the original audience in mind. Its principles are as true and trustworthy today as they were when they were originally written down. Read it. Believe it. Live it.
- God’s Sovereignty – He is completely and utterly in charge, not us. The world belongs to Him as King, and He expects obedience. Whether or not our culture believes it is irrelevant. It’s true. God will ultimately have His way in the earth.
- Free Will – We’re not puppets, and God doesn’t override our free will. He invites us to come, but we must choose to respond to His invitation. We don’t become Christians by divine decree. We must enter into an ongoing relationship with Him.
- The Transforming Power of Jesus Christ – Jesus still miraculously changes hearts and lives. We don’t have to compromise our message in order to please people; God can change them so they please Him. He forgives and atones for our sin. And He washes us white as snow. He accepts us as we are, but He loves us too much to leave us that way. And He can change us in an instant. His Holy Spirit enters us and does a sanctifying work in our hearts.
- Holiness – I’m convinced so few pastors preach holiness today because so few have experienced it. But it’s real nonetheless. God still purifies hearts. He not only counts us as righteous, but he also makes us righteous (Titus 2:11-15).
- Evil – Evil exists. Don’t underestimate it. Satan prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Satan’s goal is to destroy people through the allure of sin (John 10:10, James 1:15). And he holds many captive to it. The expressions of sin we see in our culture today are evil, and we should not accept it or condone it.
- Heaven and Hell – Despite Rob Bell’s assertion otherwise (i.e., “Love Wins”), there is a real heaven and a real hell, and Jesus is the only way to heaven. No, all religions don’t lead to heaven (John 14:6). The way is narrow and only a few find it (Matthew 7:13-14). There will be a place of torment and punishment for the wicked, which includes nice people and “good” people – and even some religious people (Matthew 7:21). I’m sorry if this ruins your perception of God as a heavenly Santa Claus who exists to make us feel good. He is also a God of anger and wrath (Romans 2:7-9).
We need to stand firm on what is real and true and lasting. I’m convinced that when the church stands for truth, it is a beacon for those who are searching. When Christians live the truth, we are a powerful testament to the reality of the Gospel.
Resist the devil and he will flee from you (James 4:7). In the midst of a fake-oppressed culture, stand tall with unwavering confidence in the reality of who Jesus is and what He’s done and will do.
From all of us here at The Wesleyan Resistance…
Merry Christmas