“Hi, I’ll be your doctor today.  What brings you to the emergency room?” – Comforting words if you are in real need of medical care and have made your way to the hospital.  A terrifying claim if the person speaking to you is just pretending to be a doctor.  Google: “fake physician assistant florida”.  Later on the teenager went on to impersonate a police officer, going as far to pull people over… 4 months after getting busted for impersonating a medical professional.

Let’s not focus on the teenager… he obviously has some issues that need attention.  Let’s focus on the potential “us” – the patient.  In that moment of need, what’s more important?  The title or the education and experience?  In other words, the reputation of the profession or the reality of medical training undergone by the person in front of you?  At the last Bridge meeting on March 1st, we focused on exactly that – valuing reality over reputation.

In Romans 2:25-29, the Jewish people struggled with being counted as a Jew solely by the physical sign of circumcision.  Paul corrected the church by declaring that devotion was not marked by an outward sign or label, instead it was a matter of the heart – to be accurately judged by God alone.  In today’s world, the push is to put on a good face and show the world that you’ve got it all together, that you count by social standards, and that you’ve “made it”.  Whether in relationships, careers, or one’s spiritual walk, any degree of character fraudulence is an impedance to our own growth and a stumbling block to those around us.

Focusing on ourselves, the first in any good 12 step program is acceptance.  We must accept the reality that we are broken, imperfect people.  Doing so is incredibly freeing because it reveals the need for a Savior.  Accepting His love and mercy for us allows us to pursue a relationship with Him with integrity and rightful desperation.

Focusing on others, now more than ever, people are attracted to what appears to be true.  Deception uncovered leaves a terrible taste in one’s mouth.  The longest standing critique of the church has been apparent hypocrisy among the ranks.  The real problem, however, is the church marketing itself as perfect people piously devoting themselves to God when in reality Christianity is marked by imperfect people choosing God because of our indebtedness to Him.  Our actions don’t make us Christians any more than selecting your “religious views” on Facebook.  When you relate with others, what is valued more – reality or reputation?  Do we puff ourselves up in order to appear more attractive or can we relate with others on a “down to earth” level?

A phrase from a sermon struck me recently: “People often trust you before they trust Christ.”

Are you trustworthy?