Volume 33

It happened in England during World War Two. After the Nazis identified prisoners with experience in printing, typography and forgery, they put them to work making phoney money. The idea was to flood the market with counterfeit cash until the British pound was devalued, throwing the United Kingdom into economic crisis.

In no time, Hitler’s counterfeiting ring had made 134 million pounds, in 5, 10, 20 and 50 pound notes. All of it was dropped over London as the Nazis rubbed their hands in anticipation of the economic chaos to come. But miraculously, most Brits turned in the money to police, either out of honesty or suspicion. Acting quickly, the Bank of England changed the design of its bills and disaster was avoided.

Since them, counterfeiting has continued to have a long and illustrious run. But one of the most bizarre schemes surfaced in Saitama, Japan. Authorities found more than 400 phoney 1,000-yen bills in vending machines, but these were no ordinary fakes.

Genuine 1,000-yen notes have three coloured strips. On the counterfeit bills, one of the strips was a photocopy but the other two were legitimate, lifted from real money. That means the counterfeiter cut up authentic 1,000-yen bills to make the phoney ones. Police are still mystified as to why anyone would make fake money that costs more to produce than it’s worth!

Georgia and racked up purchases totalling $1,671.55. She tried to pay with a $1million bill. The clerk knew there was no such thing and alerted security officers who arrested Pike with two more of the mega-bills in her purse.

Wouldn’t it be nice if it were always so easy to tell the real from the sham? But counterfeits come in many kinds — notjust in terms of money — and most are hard to spot. That’s especially true of the myriad claims and counterclaims about what will bring us happiness, meaning and fulfillment.

To recognize what will genuinely make us happy, we have to know our nature and our need. If we truly are created in the image of God with a desire to know and love Him (Gen. 1:26), trying to find inner peace without addressing the spiritual dimension of our being is pointless. We’re hardwired to be holy, even though our wills and pride try to thwart it at every turn.

The Bible says God has placed eternity deep within us (Ecclesiastes 3:11.) In other words, there’s a spiritual void that must be filled to make us feel whole, so we can’t afford to ignore it. If we do, we’ll spend the rest of our lives trying to ram square pegs into round holes in our hearts. And that’s where the counterfeits come in.

If it’s easy to believe in a God who wants what’s best for us, it’s not a stretch to believe in a Satan who doesn’t. Our enemy seeks to destabilize God’s united Kingdom by devaluating what’s precious to us, flooding our lives with things that look real and aren’t: love that gives out, faith that gives in, and hope that gives up. We need to recognize the forgeries for what they are so we don’t take the bait, and the church must redesign those things with a new authenticity.

When we keep the proper perspective on things like money, sex, work and achievement, they’re wonderful gifts. But when they’re passed off as the ultimate key to happiness, they’re like the Japanese bills — partly authentic but, in the end, they cost us more than they’re worth. The truth is, connection and significance can’t be found in power, possessions or popularity. Life isn’t about what we have, or even what we do. It’s about being in sync with God, serving others with love and getting ready for heaven. “For... your real life is hidden with Christ in God. And when Christ, who is your real life, is revealed to the whole world, you’ll share in all his glory.” (Colossians 3:3)

By Rick Gamble. Published in Cross Current, the weekly newsletter of the followers of Christ congregation in Brantford, Ontario, Canada. Reprint at will in not-for-profit publications. To subscribe to this free weekly article, send a note to Rick at rgamble@bfree.on.ca