Knockoffs or the real deal?

Not long ago I got to noticing one of the members of my church wearing Sanuk shoes, the casual shoes that declare they are not shoes but sandals. I decided I wanted a pair to wear around the house and on quick trips to the store. When I got to looking I discovered they were $60 a pair, so decided to look for alternatives.

One day I was in Walmart and noticed a knockoff for only $14. They are even called surfers like the Sanuks. I was really tempted to buy a pair of those. In fact, more than once I took them to the check-out line but decided not to buy them. They just weren’t the same. I decided I didn’t want the knockoffs, I wanted the real deal. So that’s what I ended up buying.

A knockoff is an item made to look like a popular designer or name-brand item that costs more than it’s worth because it is popular with a designer or name-brand label. There are counterfeits, made to deceptively replicate the real deal, and there are lookalikes, made to be similar but not intended to copy. The Walmart lookalikes were not counterfeits.

Apparently there is a huge industry dedicated to making knockoffs. We buy knockoffs in just about every kind of consumer goods. Things like shoes, clothes, and jewelry. We even buy or make knockoff food. I remember one time finding a website that showed me how to make a knockoff Frappuccino drink like Starbucks makes.

We buy knockoffs because we want to have a look that is “in” without having to pay full price. The idea is to have the appearance of a certain style without having to invest in having the style. But when it is truly important to be in style, it is better to pass over the knockoff and instead buy the real deal.

Jesus said the kingdom has knockoffs and the real deal. After a tussle with Pharisees he complained to a group of people about knockoffs and his preference for the real deal. To vent he used a story of a farmer planting good wheat seed in his fields. One evening an enemy, a rival farmer, planted weeds or darnel seed in his fields. It was a case of agricultural sabotage intended to destroy the farmer’s yield at harvest and his profits at market. At the worst the bad seeds will contaminate the farmer’s wheat and may come up as volunteers to pollute the crop next year. At best the darnel will increase the work of the harvest.

Darnel is a knockoff of wheat. Jews considered it a corrupt form of  wheat. In every way it looks like wheat until the heads begin to form and the fruit begins to develop. Then it becomes obvious but by then it is too late to do much about it. When the field hands asked the farmer what to do about it he told them to let them continue to grow side by side until harvest. Then collect the good wheat and cut down the weeds with their seeds and burn them. Care would be taken to separate the good seeds from the bad at harvest. The bad would be dealt with later. Knockoffs will be set aside and burned in favor of the real deal.

Jesus’ disciples later asked Jesus to interpret his story. Apparently it had gone over their heads. The good seeds, he said, are sincere and dedicated followers of the kingdom. The real deal. They are the ones who listen carefully and bear fruit. The bad seeds, he said, are planted by the enemy to sabotage and complicate the kingdom. They look a lot like the real deal until it comes time to bear fruit. They come to church and sit on committees. They do some good things. But eventually it becomes obvious they are not really committed to the kingdom and are really more interested in themselves. I wonder if these are the “hypocrites” the unchurched point to for excuses not to come to church.

John Wesley spoke of these as “almost Christians” having the form of godliness but denying the power thereof. They appear to be Christians but deep inside do not really love God or neighbor. Paul warned Timothy of people who would be selfish and love money; braggers and proud, slanderous and disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, and unloving; contrary and without self control; disloyal, reckless, and conceited; loving pleasure more than God. Somehow they would appear to be Christians but not permit God’s power. Knockoffs. Jude also warns of “godless people who have slipped in among you” turning God’s grace into unrestrained immorality. He describes similar traits. Knockoffs are to be avoided as we seek to be the real deal.

The lesson for us is two-fold. First, Jesus warns that among us there will always be knockoffs. There will always be the “almost Christians” who talk a good game and put on a good show. They will sit on committees and lead classes and groups. They will advance agendas and give money. They will come to church. But eventually a test of some kind will come that determines the kind of fruit they bear in their lives. Then it becomes obvious they have come to sabotage the harvest.

The second part of the lesson is that we do not need to be distracted by the presence of knockoffs. They will be there until the harvest removes them. Instead, the real deal continue to grow and bear the good fruit of the kingdom.

The knockoffs will be separated out and the real deal will remain to continue the work of the kingdom.

Knockoffs or the real deal? I am enjoying my new Sanuk shoes. I am glad I chose the real deal.

Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43 (Proper 11 A)