When I was 9 or 10, our family was invited to visit a resort owned by Dad's friend. It featured a Western town, complete with a daily confrontation between the sheriff and the bad guys on "Main Street." The fact that the 'town' was located in the Adirondack Mountains of Northern New York state should have been a clue about the authenticity of the place, but I guessed as a kid I missed that point. What destroyed the illusion was the 'behind the scenes' tour that revealed the 'buildings' to be nothing more than props, false fronts held up by supports and the sheriff to be a local kid acting a part. Welcome to a world full of illusions.
Since then I have experienced the same sinking feeling many times, but never more than when a person who seemed to be a true follower of Christ is revealed to be a fraud, hiding a life of sin behind a false front of "Christian" service. Don't misunderstand me. I don't expect anybody to be flawless. I am not!! But, I do expect that a person who says he or she is follower of Jesus Christ will be dealing with sin issues and be honest with themselves and their world about who they are - warts and all. God demands this kind of authenticity from us. He provides grace to us, first to forgive our sins, then to lead us through a process of transformation; if we are willing to own our failures, confess our sins, and allow the Holy Spirit unfettered access to every part of our life.
Living authentically is not easy in our culture which is so intent on creating an image. Our surfeit of wealth gives us the ability to buy a new persona, to try on a whole new self again and again. Want to pretend you're a member of royalty, or a celebrity whose every whim is indulged? The TV ad for a cruise line suggests you can do just that for a couple of thousands of dollars. Want to be younger? A surgeon will pull the lines from your face and tighten the sagging places elsewhere on your frame. Name brands and logos are prominently printed on clothing, beverages-- almost everything we purchase. We pay a premium for many products for no better reason than that the logo they bear let us believe we are part of some exclusive group when we eat them, drink them, or wear them! It's a dumb game that we play. Everybody is 'in' on the fraud, but we all keep pretending hiding ourselves like kids at a costume party.
Sooner or later the game is over and we have to deal with our true self. What then? What kind of person will show up when the money runs out, when health fails, or when age finally outruns the doctor's ability to recreate youth? That is a question worth pondering today. If our lives are hidden in Christ, if we are His disciples, we can give up the childishness of trying to be someone else - and allow the person He made us to be to emerge clothed in the glory of God! People who are real, who are at peace with God and themselves are wonderfully refreshing to be around. They are full of light, not shadows. They refresh others, like a glass of clean water renews a thirsty body! You never wonder if they are telling the truth or 'who' will show up tomorrow. They are not super-spiritual, nor do they revel in their sins. They are good, spiritual, loving, peaceful people of substance.
I discovered a simple test for authenticity last week when I was called to give a reference for a person seeking employment. One question that the caller asked me made me chuckle. I had never heard anyone ask it before. "Would you trust this woman to care for your children overnight?" A whole lot about character and competence is revealed by a 'yes' or 'no' answer that inquiry. I'll be using it to evaluate myself from time to time -- "Jerry, are you being the kind of man that others could or would entrust with their most precious possessions?"
Let's commit to living authentically, friend.
Here is something Jesus said. Think on it today.
"And don’t say anything you don’t mean. This counsel is embedded deep in our traditions. You only make things worse when you lay down a smoke screen of pious talk, saying, ‘I’ll pray for you,’ and never doing it, or saying, ‘God be with you,’ and not meaning it. You don’t make your words true by embellishing them with religious lace. In making your speech sound more religious, it becomes less true. Just say ‘yes’ and ‘no.’ When you manipulate words to get your own way, you go wrong." (Matthew 5:33-37, The Message)
_____________
Change my heart, oh God,
Make it ever true.
Change my heart, oh God,
May I be like You.
You are the potter,
I am the clay.
Mold me and make me,
This is what I pray.
Change my heart, oh God,
May I be like You.
Change My Heart, O God
Eddie Espinoza
© 1982 Mercy / Vineyard Publishing (Admin. by Music Services)CCLI License No. 810055
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