Playing Church: Do We Fake It, Or Live It?

We all want our relationships to be real and have substance. You and I want our friends to be real. You and I want our intimate relationships to be honest and real. We want all our relationships to have the substance of truthfulness and mutual caring.  It's the same way with the church. We want our churches to be real. They don't have to be perfect. No church or relationship is perfect. But all churches and relationships can be real and honest. We can be honest in our imperfections. Our churches can be honest in their imperfections. But it seems that we do have some churches in different locations and denominations that are reflective of what I call Cosmetic Christianity. Cosmetic Christianity is a church saying one thing, and not even "trying" to practice what they are saying. They just sit on a corner or a street, procliaming one thing and actually doing another. We all can fall into a self deceptive religious trance if we are not being honest with ourselves and comparing our behavior with the character of Christ. I will be talking about this on Today's Word.