Impersonator — Answering The Call - A Redeeming The Time Blog

Impersonator

By Grant Gaines

Charlie Chaplin was and still is one of the most iconic men in the film industry. Charlie’s career lasted over 75 years and was held in the highest of regard by all. Chaplin’s trophy case is as wide as the Rocky Mountains are long. He was knighted in England, given an honorary doctorate from both the University of Oxford and the University of Durham, and has his hand print in the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Needless to say, Chaplin was one of the most well-known and loved men of his day.

However, despite all of this fame, in 1975 just two years before his death, Chaplin entered a look-alike contest of himself in France just for fun. Chaplin had no reason to doubt that he would win the competition without any trouble but the judges thought otherwise. Rather than winning a competition in which the contestants were competing for who looked the most like him, Chaplin got third.

Just as the judges innocently picked the wrong Charlie Chaplin because the contestants did such a good job of impersonating the real Chaplin, I believe that we are in danger of doing the same-we fall for the lies of Satan rather than the truth of God (Romans 1:25) because Satan is such a master deceiver.

Need some examples? Take a look at Revelation to see how well Satan mimics the Holy Trinity with the antichrist (imitates Christ), the false prophet (imitates the Holy Spirit), and the beast (imitates God the Father). 2 Corinthians 11:14 (NLT) describes Satan by saying that he will even, “…disguise himself as an angel of light,” in order to make us fall into his trap. Or look at the idea of sin in general-Jesus has promised us a full and abundant life (John 10:10) which is exactly what sin seems to offer…at least for a brief moment.

There is obviously a fine line between what is true and what is a lie. One of the most difficult places to decipher between the two is the near identical twins: contentment and complacency. 1 Timothy 6:6 (NIV) encourages us to be content by telling us that, “…godliness with contentment is great gain” and Proverbs 1:32 (NLT) warns us against complacency because, “…Fools are destroyed by their own complacency.” So we obviously know that contentment is what we’re shooting for and complacency is what we’re trying to avoid, but if you were to put complacency and contentment up on stage side by side, would you be able to tell the difference?

Before you can accurately judge between the two, wouldn’t you agree that it would be helpful to understand just exactly what complacency and contentment are? These attitudes are so similar that they result in the same thing-rest. What separates them, however, is what that rest and satisfaction is founded on. A complacent attitude finds its satisfaction in circumstances while a content attitude finds its satisfaction in its Creator.

In other words, the more possessions, resources, and assets that a complacent person has, the happier and lazier they will be. And on the flip side, regardless of how much or how little a content person has, they will always be just as happy and eager to do good because their hope is not found in an elastic bank account or stock market but rather in a God, “…who does not change like the shifting shadows” (James 1:17, NIV).

Now that we know the judging criteria, let’s get the contestants up on the stage. I’ll relay the story and your job is to decide if the person is content or complacent.

“And [Jesus] told them this parable: ‘The ground of a certain rich man yielded an abundant harvest. He thought to himself, ‘What shall I do? I have no place to store my crops.’ Then he said, ‘This is what I’ll do. I will tear down my barns and build bigger ones, and there I will store my surplus grain. And I’ll say to myself, ‘You have plenty of grain laid up for many years. Take life easy; eat, drink and be merry'” (Luke 12:16-19, NIV).

So what do you think, complacent or content? Well as we discussed earlier, the answer to that question depends on the source of his satisfaction, so if you look over the story again, where did the man find his satisfaction? In his crops, his stuff, his earthly riches.

That right there is the epiphany of complacency. The man was satisfied in his riches and therefore became lazy which clearly displeased God as can be seen through the Lord’s first two words in response to this man’s attitude later in the story-“You fool!” (Luke 12:20, NIV).

And on the opposite end of this complacent fool is the man who wrote more about contentment than anyone in the Bible-the apostle Paul. Though he was battle tested, beaten, and bruised, Paul’s attitude was never dampened. Paul had the lengthy resume (Philippians 3:4-6), the writings (Romans-Philemon), and the royal recognition (Acts 23-26), but Paul considered them, “…a loss compared to the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus as [his] Lord…” (Philippians 3:8, NIV).

How did Paul stay so even keeled through such dramatic heights and depths? He found his satisfaction in his Savior, not in his savings.

Which describes the attitude of your heart more: content or complacent? Or maybe a better question to ask, where do you find your peace, your hope, and your satisfaction? Is it in your circumstances or your King?