Real vs. Fake

In the last few years, I’ve gotten into the habit of listening to news on an app on my phone rather than watching on a screen. I like to do so when exercising, when doing work in the kitchen, or when I have a task that doesn’t require a lot of brain power to accomplish. As I’m sure you would agree, listening to something while working through a task makes it seem a little easier and makes the time seem to go by faster.

Recently, a commercial that airs periodically has caught my attention. In it, a wife is sharing about a gift she bought her husband that has apparently been a special addition to his office as well as the generator of unrestrained laughter. By submitting a photo, some personal information, and a short bio of oneself, and though not mentioned, an unspecified payment, you can have in hand a hard copy book produced through artificial intelligence that credits the submitted individual as the author. It’s not just a thin picture book either, but the ad touts a full two hundred fifty-page tome of whatever AI chooses to churn out. While AI has become the subject of considerable debate and there are pros and cons to every facet of its use, in regard to this particular product, the word that immediately comes to mind for me is fake. That there is now the ability to lay claim to a written work without employing one’s own thought process or effort is far beyond past norms. And, this miracle of instant creative ability is not limited to printed material but extends into various forms of art and music. Just submit a modicum of an idea to an accommodating AI website and voila, you can have a work that rivals the best in any genre. In education, students in various grades from elementary through college are attempting to bluff their way through school by submitting AI-authored papers. And, how many pictures or videos have you viewed on a cell phone thread of unlikely animals snuggling, or of people with seemingly unusual features or problems, or of some sort of supposed natural phenomenon taking place in the world. Fake is all around us, and obviously, it’s one big lie!

Though the AI version of fake is fairly new, fake is as old as the beginning of time. God’s enemy and ours who first appears in Genesis 3:1 and deceived Eve and her husband Adam, is, according to these different versions of the Bible, “crafty” (ESV and NIV), “clever” (The Message), “cunning” (NKJV), “subtle” (RSV). In 2 Corinthians we are informed as to how this can be so. As it warns about him and those who are apparently sold out to his schemes, the word states “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness” (2 Corinthians 11:13-15a, ESV). It is clear that as “the deceiver of the whole world,” (from Revelation 12:9) the enemy of our souls attempts to imitate God in his endeavor to take his place, and is as fake as they come. He knows, however, how to use his cover to trick us into believing the wrong things about God and about ourselves. “How can God really love you when you’re ________ (fill in the blank)?” “Why do you presume to even try to be at the top of your game when you can’t even…?” “Who do you think you are to…?” Beyond questioning our abilities, he tempts us to present ourselves in ways that are not genuine as he uses his lie-filled questions to stymie us and keep us from what God literally may have purposed us to do.

The answer to combatting the Fake Angel of Light is to be yoked to the real Beacon of Light, Jesus. We find great advice in the Book of James, “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you” (James 4:7-8a, ESV). Notice that the act of first importance is to submit to God. It then follows that he will give you the ability to repel the devil’s attacks against you. If we are able to hold onto the truth from God and about God and about The Enemy, we can look at every circumstance with the right perspective: Though the enemy is powerful, he is not all-powerful like our omnipotent God; though he knows some things about us, he is not all-knowing like our omniscient God; though he can send his cohorts to various places to mess with us, he is not everywhere always like our omni-present God. The devil truly is fake. For certain, God is the real deal!

As summer is winding down and the school year is beginning, aim to not only live by these truths yourself, but help your children to take hold of them as well. Prepare them to be on guard against both what is fake in the world and the deception of the devil. Pray with them and for them for protection and discernment. Set yourself and your family on a track toward what is real, and leave the fake behind!

Subscribe to our free bi-monthly eNewsletter