Are We Authentic?

We live in a strange time in history because we live with so many images of people who are “Inauthentic” and just pretending to be genuine.  For example, news commentators and politicians continually craft an image or narrative instead of being authentic about who and what they believe about God and life in general. It seems that modern culture has increasingly traded good character for a good image.  The really sad thing is that can be expected from the world but many pastors have gotten in lock step with the world when it comes to working on their image more than their character.

Most products today spend millions on advertising to create a sense of worth for their product or person they want to promote. When you watch TV ads you can quickly see how often companies present “Slick Ads” which rarely truly represent the product or person they are promoting. One of my all time gripes is when you go to a restaurant and look at the menus. More time than not we are presented with a picture of delicious meals that rarely look like the meal you are served. In our day “Marketing” is king about everything and substance sits in the wings of promotion rarely being allowed to speak. Pictures and video of the modern age have hindered our ability to discern good from evil.

When we look at the nation of Israel we see God’s intentions for her and yet time and time again Israel seemed more concerned with looking like the world around them. God promised them blessings overflowing if they trusted him and yet Israel would rather have life their way rather than God’s. Israel went so far as to want a king because other nations had kings so they wanted one also. Although God warned them that having kings rule them would make their lives harder they persisted and God gave them a king. Saul, whom God chose, was humble in the beginning, but like so many leaders, he got seduced by power and popularity and rebelled against God and his ways so the Lord had to replace him.

So, what is it that compels us to reject being genuine followers of God?  In my mind, it all has to do with whether we depend on the Holy Spirit each day or if we only ask for help from God once in a while and try to live the Christian life on our terms and by our human willpower.

When God was looking to replace King Saul of Israel he sent Samuel the prophet to anoint a young man named David. The interesting part about this is that God had to instruct Samuel what to look for in the next king and it wasn’t about image but about authenticity. You would think a prophet should know what kind of person to choose but I guess even prophets are not perfect in their understanding about character and look more for appearance just like the rest of us. All we have to do is look at Samuel’s sons who were dishonest and accepted bribes as priests and Samuel overlooked their behavior.( 1 Samuel 8:1-3 )

Scripture says God defined David as a “Man After His Own Heart”, meaning David understood what was most important to God and pursued that in his own life. Putting God and his principles first in your life was hard then and is hard now because the world and even our religious institutions often choose “Image over Content”.

1 Samuel 16:7

But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

King David wrote in the Psalms about what God thinks about being authentic. God’s greatest concern is not about getting us to heaven, but rather getting our heart in the right place and keeping us steadfast. The human heart is often the hardest thing to read, even for the person looking at their own heart. God is the only one who can truly read our hearts and he is the only one that can show us not only its condition but how to repair it. Our hearts are where authenticity resides. The Bible often speaks of our “Inner Self” as our hearts and thus we need to pay attention to what values we embrace most if we hope to have God answer our prayers and desires.

Psalms 51:6

Behold, you desire truth in the innermost being, and in the hidden part you will make me know wisdom.

So, what does it mean to be “Authentic” and how do we hope to retain such a condition for our hearts? To put it simply, authenticity means you’re true to your own personality, values, and spirit, regardless of the pressure that you’re under to act or pretend otherwise. You’re honest with yourself and with others, and you take responsibility for your mistakes as well as your successes. Your values, ideals, and actions align with reality and not wishful thinking or image casting.

Here is the problem as I see it. We may not be aware of it, but often we “Camouflage” our true beliefs. We can capitalize on our strengths and try to cover up our weakness. Only when we regularly come before the Lord in prayer can we afford to be 100% honest and learn not to make excuses or cover up our failure. Unless we make that a priority with God we will never be honest with others as we should. It is in God’s presence that we can freely admit our tendency to camouflage our failure and weaknesses because he loves us so much. Once cleaned we can afford to be honest with others around us because we are not bound by our mistakes and weaknesses.

One of the most important things we need to remember is what God declared to Moses to explain to the people of Israel about his character.

Exodus 34:6

And he passed in front of Moses, proclaiming, “The LORD, the LORD, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness,

We can depend on the fact that God is gracious, slow to anger and abounding in loving kindness. It is these character qualities we should desire to develop in our own lives and thus we need to depend on him to help us become like him in his character.

Questions:

1) Do you feel you are living an authentic life before God and others? The Holy Spirit is the only one who can help you be truly humble and honest with yourself, God and others.(John 8:31-32)

2) Are you struggling with staying authentic in your Christian walk? Jesus said the Holy Spirit will remind us the words of Jesus so that we can stay on track with being authentic ( John 14:26)

May we walk with the Holy Spirit day by day as the world gets darker,

Pastor Dale