Wooden Nickels

I suppose I looked too much like a tourist for one clerk in Edinburgh to resist having a bit of fun–and making a bit of money–at my expense.  Or perhaps it was an honest mistake.  Either way, I am now the chagrined owner of a lead pound piece.  Fortunately, another clerk who noticed my error also noticed that I was clueless as to its being fake, and he had the goodness to show me how one may discern the good from the bad.

And, of course, I’m going to have to test all my pound pieces tonight.  Good grief!

But isn’t that what we’re supposed to do always–to test and approve what is right?  There are, of course, worse things than money to be lost for not following this advice.

I wish I had thought of my fake coin when I encountered the monk today.  He stopped me to ask for a donation because he and his fellow monks were trying to “save the world.”  This piqued my interest, being of course what the church is doing.  Besides, I, who have never talked to anyone who even claimed to be a monk, was curious.  And he shared my brother’s birthday (all but the year), which gave us a point of reference.  So, when I asked what sort of monk he was–for, you know, there are all sorts of monks–and he said he was a Christian one, I became somewhat hopeful that I had happened upon a friend in Edinburgh.  So, he proceeded to explain the purpose of his cause, something about yoga and good deeds, but never once did he mention Jesus at all.  And when I asked if they shared the gospel with all this yoga and stuff, he asked, with almost a knowing smile, “What do you mean by ‘the gospel’?”  I, amazed at his ignorance for a Christian monk, answered that the gospel was the first four books of the New Testament (too surprised and abashed to clarify that it specifically includes the fact that Jesus died as a sacrifice for our sins so that we could spend eternity with God in heaven instead of being forever without Him in hell.)  Well, then he smiled as if amused at my foolish notion that the gospel could be so narrow and commenced to explain his sad, painful view that all a person muct do is to strive to please God, and God will be pleased with that.

And, believers, God is pleased with that–but not pleased enough to let it take the place of what His Son died for on the cross to bring us:  salvation.  Oh, this monk’s belief sounds so fine!  No blood, no pain, only a mankind striving to do what is best.  Unfortunately, though, lead coins clink just like the real ones do.  In fact, when coloured aright, they even look just as good as a real coin.  You can’t tell the difference until you scratch the surface.  The lead will then shine with the colour of silver, but the real coin remains the same dull, brassy hue.  And the lead coin has no redeemable value; only the true one has. 

The same goes for salvation.  There is only one “coin” that has any value to make us acceptable to our holy God:  the blood of Jesus Christ.  The other “coins” that our world tries to mint–including that of my monk acquaintance–are as worthless as the counterfeit coin I presented for my bottle of water.  That is why we must test and approve every teaching according to the Scriptures.  Please, don’t trust in any wooden nickels!