LET'S PRETEND!

Cream of Wheat is so good to eat.
Yes, we have it every day.
We sing this song,
It will make us strong,
And it makes us shout "Hooray!"
It's good for growing babies
And grown-ups, too, to eat.
For all the family's breakfast
You can't beat Cream of Wheat!"

For 20 years from 1934 to 1954 that familiar jingle introduced a wonderful Saturday morning kids' radio program called "Let's Pretend." We would gather close to the radio for half an hour of animated story telling. Each program always brought a fairy tale to life that made it easy to imagine every move the ogre made as he captured the three pigs or to see Dumbo's ears flapping as he flew away.

Better than television, the radio depended on the listener to visualize every facet of the story being told, sight unseen. Listening to the program drew us into a make-believe world that let us forget who we really were and what was going on in the world around us.

Words and sounds floating on the air waves filled our house with castles and moats, dragons that breathed fire, princes on white horses, magic glass slippers and mirrors that talked. For thirty minutes we were part of another world...until the Cream of Wheat jingle broke in and brought us back to reality once again.

Pretending is the wonderful world of fantasy adopted and enjoyed by children. Adults outgrow their need to make-believe. They have out-grown childish ways. However, the Bible contradicts the idea that all adults are for real.

The Bible warns us to be wary of false teachers and prophets. Jude, Jesus' half-brother, speaks about "certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ...these men, also by dreaming, defile the flesh, and reject authority, and revile angelic majesties...the men who are hidden reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you without fear, caring for theselves, clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, doubly dead, uprooted..." And his description goes on to further denote these false and ungodly persons.

Today we have ministers and preachers of the Gospel who live in a pretend world. That is, they pretend they are on their way to heaven. They go through all the right motions a real minister performs. They say the right words, they quote the right Bible verses, they pray the right prayers on TV or in the pulpit, and they make their audiences witness miracles that they think a holy man of God does. But they're not for real.

These men and in some instances women are unscrupulous thieves robbing a congregation of seeking hungry people from growing beyond an elementary experience of knowing God in saving grace, yet not progressing into the deeper knowledge of God's blessing. These thieves cannot and do not hear the voice of God's Spirit urging the Church family to know His outpouring. They do not want God's blessing. If God moved in mighty power in their midst, He would bring conviction on them for their sin of lying and all the secret sins they nurture and do not want exposed.

As for their posture among professed believers, God says it this way:

"As soon as they hear, they obey me; foreigners PRETEND to obey me." Psalm 18:44 (NASB)

"Say to God, 'How awesome are Your works! Because of the greatness of Your power Your enemies will PRETEND to obey You.'" Psalm 66:3 (NASB)

"Those who hate the LORD would PRETEND to obey Him, and their time of punishment would be forever." Psalm 81:15 (NASB).

What indictments these verses declare against those who appear to serve God in leadership positions, while their hearts are not lined up to their supposed, professed faith. Notice God calls them 'foreigners,' 'enemies, and 'haters' of the LORD. Those are strong accusations from God's mouth.

Yes, God calls the ministers who put on a false front of religiousness and righteousness His enemies, foreigners to Him, and His haters. Words that describe exactly opposite to what the imposters in the pulpit pretend themselves to be before the assembly of people and before God Himself.

Any time a man of the cloth hides sin, denies it exists or ever did and makes himself or herself to be a victim of false accusations, he or she is living in a "let's pretend" world. What do those liars think God means when His word says:

"But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murders and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and ALL LIARS, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death." Revelation 21:8

No matter how well sin is hidden or covered up before on-lookers whether in the pulpit or the pew, sinners are not excused by God. Reputation, pride, wealth and worldly possessions are not the same as possessing eternal life. In fact, they are directly opposite. And, yet, so many in leadership in the church world today assume that because they put on a good show before the TV cameras, they can freely enjoy the accoutrements of this world gained from offerings donated by everyday people who, in many cases, give sacrificially. These liars believe that some day they can step into eternity to the acclaim of Jesus and God the Father! Come on, now! LET'S PRETEND!!

The only persons these ministers are fooling with their pretense are they, themselves, and their 'covers'---those who hold secrets close to their skin because they are covering for each other. What a network of booby-traps! Once the string of pearls is broken, all the beads fall off the necklace one after the other! They are exposed, person by person, minister by minister, sin by sin. Sin and hypocrisy denied so long by the perpetrators have degraded to a state of soul where the guilty cannot and will not repent.

"LET'S PRETEND" has consequences more serious than what appears on the surface. Pretending when God seeks authenticity and truth does something permanent to the defiant heart. Pride and arrogance dominate the spirit and refuse to humble themselves at the feet of Jesus. Status and reputation matter more to them than purity and repentance.

When Esau sold his birthright for a bowl of soup, Isaac blessed Jacob with the birthright. The blessig included that fact that all of Jacob's relatives including Esau would be his servants. Esau refused the thought of bowing to Jacob and determined to slay his brother instead. Humility and true repentance played no part in Esau's character nor do they figure in the hearts of those impersonators of righteousness who care more about instant gratification of their lust than long-term righteousness before God.

These professed heralds of God probably responded to a true call from God to declare His gospel, and then they sold their birthright of God's glory on their souls for money, fame and power. They did not treasure what the world cannot buy. They are Esaus who treated God's glory cheaply for immediate gain.

Jacob was different. He chose the best way, God's blessig, and received it. True, he was a deceiver in the way he got the blessing, but his heart sought what was precious and he received it.

Those in the body of the Church who treasure God's glory and delight in Him and His glory find He is their wealth. They long to see God's glory reign and manifest in their church services as well as in their intimate times alone with God. They have no rank among the worldly Esaus, but God knows their names and the number of hairs on their heads.

However, a day is coming sooner than later when every person will stand before God. The Esaus of our day, thieves that they are, will rail against God's judgment by rationalizing:

"Lord, Lord, didn't I prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?"

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