The Land of 10,000 Fakes

"While walking by the Sea of Galillee, he saw two brothers...casting a net into the sea, for they were fisherman. And he said to them, 'Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men...And going on from there he saw two brothers...in the boat...and he called them." -Matthew

"My position is we need to get our act together before the giants show up, and they're knocking at the door right now. You better build your ark, folks-get on your adventure-because we're whipping up things in the lab that will make everything so far look like nothing has happened at all yet. That's not next year, that's tomorrow. That's now. We're going to have a lot of things to contend with." -Jordan Peterson

"When the truth offends, we lie and lie until we can no longer rememer it is even there, but it is still there. Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later, that debt is paid." -Valery Legasov

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." -Jesus

I like to fish. Both of my parents like to fish, their parents liked to fish, and their parents liked to fish. It makes sense for me to find Central MN a lovely little place to live. I’ve always wanted to live in the Land of 10,000 Lakes.

Fisherman learn lessons through experience, and the experiences are more spiritually valuable than I thought. It confused me that Jesus’ first four picks were fishing brothers. It took me 20 years to begin to figure out why He didn't find His crew in Jerusalem.

You see, fisherman know there is another world under the surface. They know the wind determines feeding patterns. They know that you can do everything you know and still get skunked. They know success won't come sitting still in the cabin. They know that a topographical map, a master guide, and a brother in the boat make success much more likely. They are familiar with lures, hooks, tangles, and the art of deception. They learn to read the weather and weather the storms. Jesus knew what He was doing when He said to the first four, "Follow me." Shocker.

Before I moved here, my northern family and friends warned me about the culture I was about to engage. I loved to spend a week or two here because the people were so nice and the lakes were so accessible. This was their warning: “There is Minnesota Nice, but there is also Minnesota Ice.”

Minnesotans will be just lovely if you want to skim the surface for a few minutes. But if you desire access to deeper water and long-term honest relationships, Central MN can become rather icy, sometimes chilling. To get an honest brother or sister here you might have to drill through three feet of relational ice. Even then there are no guarantees of catching anything.

We’re coming up on 7 years since relocating to the “Granite City”. I think it was in my first lunch meeting downtown that a fellow worker prayed “Jesus, we ask that you turn hearts of stone into hearts of flesh.” I was blissfully ignorant of what he was praying for. He, on the other hand, had been here for a decade or more. He had worked with the churches and outside of them. He knew that most of the seed scattered in central MN lands on rocky soil and soon withers and dies. I would have to learn that lesson the hard way, walking my own rocky road. Rocks are very effective teachers. They are often unyielding.

A fisherman knows there’s always more under the surface than one would think. For the most part, what’s below the surface is a mystery. It remains unknown. It is hidden. I make my dwelling in the land of 10,000 fakes.

We all do. It's the water in which each of us swims.

What has had my attention lately is this: Giant Deception. As a history teacher and preacher I have always been exposed to this thing called "plagiarism", taking words that are not yours and pretending that they are. I have concluded that my first seminary professor spent a full semester simply seeing if he could get the souls of his students to "Steal no longer, but rather work, that they may have something to share with those in need." But now we have entered into a new era, one where ChatGPT can write a term paper, sermon, or a polished email in seconds. Our social media reels are filled with photos, videos, and interviews that never happened. Kids are creating their own custom porn using AI. We dwell in the land of 10,000 fakes. So you had better know the real deal.

Here's the real deal. You were created in the image of God Himself. You were knit together in your mother's womb, fearfully and wonderfully made. You are taking your next breath because God breathed life into you and has decided that you can take another one. If you have a family of your own, it is more sacred than you could ever imagine. The Father is perpetually offering you life through His Son and His Spirit. This is the water in which each of us swim.

Don't give up your divine image to some stupid computer program. Speak the Words of Life. Speak the Truth in Love. Throw off the chains of deception and live life to the full, abundantly.