Nothing's Better than the Real Thing

Not long ago, Anna came home from staying the night with her Grandma and said, “Daddy, Mamaw’s toilet paper is so soft.  Why don’t we have toilet paper like that?  Do you want me to ask her where she gets her toilet paper so we can get some too?” 

“Ha!” I laughed and said, “Sweetie, we buy generic toilet paper because Daddy likes to save money on things like that.” 

“O…,” she said with a disappointed but understanding voice. 

I suppose that will play out to be one of those introductory lessons in the difference between cheap/generic/low quality and expensive/brand name/better quality. 

Whether you are like me and are willing to sacrifice softness for savings or vice versa I think we could all agree that no matter how much we cheap folks may say “toilet paper is just toilet paper,” even a child can see there is a difference between the generic and the “real thing.” 

I am convinced we live in a culture that is fed up with generic. I believe the argument could be made that our society is tired of politics and phoniness.  People are suspicious of anyone or group who is assigned or claims to have some form of authority because there is a popular perception that behind that authority is hidden corruption or deception.  And to top it all off, people are kind of angry about it.

If I have gotten at all close to properly gauging the temperature of our present culture, then that means the Church has been given a great opportunity to be real.  In a culture of generic, vague, half-truths, out- right lies and hypocrisy a little bit of authenticity can go a long way in gaining credibility and serving as a catalyst for great change. 

So, what is “brand name” Christianity?  James 1:27 says, “Religion that God our father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” 

On Sunday I mentioned a Poll that was taken some time ago that asked unchurched Americans why they do not go to church.  The number one answer given:  “I do not go to church because the people I know who go to church do not live any better or different than people I know who do not go to church.”  What is that, if not a cry for the Church to live an authentic faith? 

James reminds us that at the end of the day, reaching our community for Christ is not complicated and yet it is so hard we can’t do it but by the grace of God.  True religion is staying clean in a dirty world and meeting the real, tangible needs of the marginalized.  If we could offer our world this “brand-name” Christianity could we not see Jesus’ prayer answered, “They kingdom come, they will be done on earth as it is in heaven”?  I believe our world is looking for something real and life-changing and we have been given that through Christ.  If we will live out that brand-name Christianity both together in our church family and openly and intentionally in our neighborhoods, schools, sporting events, work and…well…everywhere…we will see a cynical, suspicious and angry culture begin to sit up, take notice and, if we stay at it long enough, respond to it to the irresistible drawing of the Holy Spirit through a faith that is anything but generic.

So, while Anna will never experience the comfort of “Charmin” in our home, I hope she we will know that while we went generic with toilet paper, we always strived for the real thing when it came to our faith.  I pray that not only for my children, but for your children and grand-children as well.  May the generation that follows us know us by our purity and compassion because, as James said, that is the real thing.