Friday, May 14, 2010

Authentic


So how do you make your inside match your outside? Or have you ever even cared about it? I get really tired of people acting one way but being another, if you know what I mean. I'm not here to slam folks. I'm here to call myself to a higher way of being. When I put myself out there for you to see, you have the right to call me on it when you see I'm not matching up. However, I also hold the right to call you on the truth too, so if you don't want to play it that way, stop reading and go have a snack.
Here's my thought, you brave soul, for reading on: What's the difference between being a model Christian and being an authentic Christian? I have seen tons of model Christians that don't make me what to be a better Christian. I have experienced a small number of authentic Christians that cause me to ask them about their faith and how they walk with the Lord. I want to be authentic and believe that most of the time I am. Ask people who know me: What you see is what you get. It can be good, bad and sometimes funny. I want to live in a way that others would want to model, because I believe this is the way to live deeply with God and to get to be used by Him. I live it because I believe it, not because someone is watching.
Being authentic means being honest about our struggles, knowing that in that honesty, God will meet and transforms us. So if you don't want to be met and be transformed by God, live a non-authentic life. I want my inside and my outside to match. I am drawn to people like that and can spot a fake from less than 10 paces. People who live deeply with God are magnetic. They are brave and funny and courageous and open and honest and real, and they pull you in. I think authenticity implies honesty, questions, struggles, desert times, shaking fists and maybe some silences. I model what I experience; anything else is faking it.
And I don't think much transformation happens when you are faking it. Some folks think that being a Christian is about all these mountaintop experiences. It's not; it's about grace and poise, joy and hope, sorrow and pain, mistakes and distance that all happen with God. It's rare to find these people but not impossible. I want to be that kind of an authentic Christian. God lives in the struggle. It is there we will find Him. So who's with me? Let's go, people!

4 comments:

redheadbeck said...

Beautifully put!!! I agree and am working on my authenticity with the Lord! For too long I've been a fake-that's what "wanting to come out of my skin" has been all about!

Preacher man said...

Let's roll!!!

Anonymous said...

Whoa...ya knocked me down and lifted me back up again. Keep on "keeping it real"!

Anonymous said...

Let's keep on keeping on!!