Monday, August 14, 2017


“Bootleg Faith”


Key Verse:
Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves. Surely you know that Jesus Christ is among you; if not, you have failed the test of genuine faith.” 2 Corinthians 13:5 (NLT)
         
Devotion:
A skeleton hangs in my family history closet. It’s very quiet. No one brings the skeleton to our family gatherings. It seldom rattles, but when it does, we all look at each other appalled. How can our family have a history of bootlegging?

To my shock and dismay, it’s true. My great-grandfather and grandpa bootlegged alcohol during the Prohibition of the 1920’s. The original term, bootleg, comes from the attempt to conceal something, usually whiskey, in a flask down the inside of a high-top boot. However, during the Prohibition, the word “bootleg”  was soon coined to mean brewing drink that was only a copy of the real thing—whiskey.

So, when the government prohibited the making or selling of any type of alcohol, my forefathers saw opportunity. They contrived a small distillery in a basement and sold the liquid gold at exorbitant prices. The folk who remember the brew said it smelled like oil and tasted like acid. However, it was in high demand. So, the “family wealth” expanded from the illegal activity of making something that produced the desired effect-- drunkenness--but no one actually considered the concoction the “real stuff.” The bootlegged moonshine made everyone happy—my ancestors and the city drunks. 

Sometimes our faith is bootlegged. We try to fake the appearance of faith in others. We tuck their “faith” inside our spirit, so we can be “spiritual.” Or, like my “family wealth,” perhaps our faith is passed down to us. We assume it’s real. “Family faith” feels comfortable, like a well-worn leather boot. We participate in all sorts of rituals, celebrations, and prayers that we don’t understand or even care about. Bootlegged faith is never authentic growing faith. It’s fake faith.

I want my faith to be genuine and not a hand-me-down, don’t you?  Let’s pledge today to grow our own faith by reading God’s Word, praying and attending a Bible based church.  Let’s show our communities, not a bootleg faith, but an authentic faith that glorifies God.

Prayer:
Dear Lord, help me not to “bootleg” my faith from others.  Grow authentic faith within me. Grant me the privilege of glorifying You through my faith. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Application steps: 
Read Acts 2:41-42. List the spiritual disciplines of the early followers of Christ.  Choose one to practice in your own life.  Ask God to increase your personal faith as you seek a closer relationship with Him.  

Reflections: 
Do I try to falsely imitate someone else’s faith?

How can I develop a strong faith of my own? 

Power verses:
Acts 2:41-42, “So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” (NASB)
Romans 10:17, “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” (NIV)
1 Peter 1:6-7, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith--of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire--may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.” (NIV)

Excerpt from Birds in My Mustard Tree by Susanne Scheppmann

© 2008 by Susanne Scheppmann. All rights reserved.

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