There are the ladies who went to Sunday School, VBS, or church camp as a kid. Now, when they've hit bottom, they're genuinely struggling to nurture those seeds of faith planted in their hearts years ago. It's a joy to take that childlike faith and help them mold into a faith capable of sustaining them through the hard times ahead.
There are others who were going to church all along, perhaps even involved in the ladies circle or teaching Sunday School themselves. But there was something else going on in their lives, a dangerous walk on the wild side. They found themselves hitting bottom with a hard thud, in prison. These women often go through an initial period of feeling so much shame, they hesitate to show their face in the chapel. With some time and dedicated nurturing of their faith, they often become leaders among the Christians in prison. They have a fairly decent knowledge of the Bible, combined with a hard-won knowledge of the rougher side of life. The combination gives them the tools to be mentors and friends and counselors to the other kind of seekers.
And then there are the ones who, to use the prison lingo, "Fake it to Make it". They've discovered attending chapel can earn them brownie points or offer an opportunity to get out of their rooms and hang out with friends on the back row.
They learn very quickly, often from others like them, how to say the right things, use the right language, and tell a heart-rending testimony - well enough to earn the favor of the religious volunteers, many of whom come from middle class churches and have had little interaction with people on the rough side of life.
After a volunteer has been working in the prison chapel awhile you learn to pick up on the clues to a fake spirituality. They claim to have been active in a church back home, but their knowledge of basic church culture is sorely lacking. They can quote a few verses, presenting them as "what I found in my studies this week", but their knowledge of how to actually use the Bible is not only deficient (which is also true of many true seekers), but fake. The things they say are superficial and rehearsed, not a reflection of their hearts.
Every prison staffer and volunteer and chaplain learns to be wary of such fakers. They want something from you, something that will benefit themselves. But they don't really want to know the One True God. If you trust them, give them an inch, you're setting yourself up for the con.
Don't misunderstand me. Genuine seekers in prison often are awkward as they learn to read the Bible and pray and talk about faith. It's easy, though, to spot the difference between a genuine desire to learn versus an act put on for the benefit of people watching.
For a long time we had one lady who would show up in the chapel every three or four months and ask to sing a special or give her testimony. If we turned her down, she put on a show of being insulted and then would disappear for another few months. She only wanted to show off her put-on religion for the sake of others.
These fake-it-to-make-it religious people are like the one red-leafed tree in the picture above. Every Autumn that tree turns before any of the other trees. It looks stunningly beautiful against the green backdrop.
The truth is, that tree turns early because it's dying. Its roots are unhealthy. It will soon look like the dead tree next to it. Unlike the precious seedlings and saplings that are doing their best to grow tall and strong, this tree is putting on a grand show, but there's only a cold and false heart at the center.
I've watched it play out year after year in the fall foliage outside my office windows. I've also learned to see the signs in the "fake it to make it" prisoners.
I pray that Christians will be discerning enough to recognize "fake it to make it" religion when it comes from the mouths of presidential candidates. By their fruit will you know them.
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