We arrived at the top of the lift. Before us rose a huge tree. I did not give it a second thought, we were in a forest. Logan drew our attention to the tree. It was not a tree. It was a communication tower. I stopped and a tally stared at the tree. Yes, there it was. A tall metal tube with artificial limbs. It was like our Christmas tree, but 100 times larger. Nestled in the top of the tree where the tell tale signs of cell phone connectivity.
Next to it was a real tree. It was not as tall, it was not as “perfect.” The limbs did not come out at regular intervals. The color was darker and richer. The was a funny empty spot on the left and it stuck out too far on the right.
The comparison was clear. The fake and the real. I prefer the real. I was surprised that I had been so easily fooled by the artificial arbor. Fakes are all around us and we often don’t seem to notice. We just assume that things we see are real, but we rarely look and consider the truth of the claim.
The world offers us relationships that will “fulfill our deepest needs,” but those relationship put God far down on the list of priorities. Therefore they can’t possibly meet our deepest needs. Materialism promises to make us feel successful, but in the end we are left with trinkets and trash. Even the church can be artificial. It can be a place of activity, but just the motions of life.
If COVID has done anything, it has sorted out lots of half-hearted commitments and what is left are those with deeper convictions. The next leg of our church’s’ journey will depend upon people deeply in love with Jesus sharing that love with others. Nothing fake, artificial or partial will work, but only those with a sold-out life will be able to attract others to follow the way of the savior. It will not look perfect, but it will be real.