There’s a problem with being authentic. When you are authentic, you are naked before the world. (I realize that some of you just winced as you read the word “naked” and there are even a few of you who won’t be able to get anything else out of this small article because you can’t get past the word “naked.” I apologize and hope that you’ll give it a shot anyway.)
When you are authentic you are naked, laid bare before others. Over the past several months I have attempted to be more authentic, more genuine in my preaching and in my writing…to be laid bare before those I serve as pastor. And some people don’t know how to deal with it. I get notes, cards, e-mails and phone-calls from folks attempting to “fix” what they perceive to be wrong.
You see, one of the problems with being authentic is the sad fact that, rather than being comfortable with the truth that we are all “in process,” some people feel the need to fix others. They need to have everything be finished and OK, to live with the illusion that we can come to a place of static completeness. But authenticity doesn’t lend itself very well to the illusion of static completeness because the reality is that we are all in process, we are all becoming…either becoming more like Christ and the beautiful creation that truly represents God or becoming less like Him, but we are all becoming. And when we are authentic we reveal that we have not yet arrived. We reveal that the journey is not complete, that we are in process and that’s when others feel the need to step in and help us get complete.
Another problem with authenticity is that people will take your nakedness…your thoughts and words and dreams and fears…and they will use them for their own purposes. Anna Nalick, in her song Breathe (2AM) describes this beautifully when she says,
“And I feel like I'm naked in front of the crowd
Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud
And I know that you'll use them, however you want to”
Whether it be visual art, music, poetry, a book or a sermon…whatever, people will take your authenticity and use it for their own purposes. They’ll run it through their own filter, make it mean what they want and then pass it on. And, honestly, I find that a little bit unnerving.
But, I have discovered that authenticity is too essential to me becoming fully what I’m supposed to become to discard it, no matter the risk. So I’m going to keep trying to be real. Some days I’m more real than others. Some days I’m too afraid to let the reality of where I am on my journey be seen by others. But I keep trying. And I’m going to keep trying because until authenticity becomes a way of life, none of us will ever “become” what we were made to be. So, do what you will with what I reveal about me…my nakedness…but I’m going forward on this path to truly becoming….I must be authentic or I won’t be at all.
When you are authentic you are naked, laid bare before others. Over the past several months I have attempted to be more authentic, more genuine in my preaching and in my writing…to be laid bare before those I serve as pastor. And some people don’t know how to deal with it. I get notes, cards, e-mails and phone-calls from folks attempting to “fix” what they perceive to be wrong.
You see, one of the problems with being authentic is the sad fact that, rather than being comfortable with the truth that we are all “in process,” some people feel the need to fix others. They need to have everything be finished and OK, to live with the illusion that we can come to a place of static completeness. But authenticity doesn’t lend itself very well to the illusion of static completeness because the reality is that we are all in process, we are all becoming…either becoming more like Christ and the beautiful creation that truly represents God or becoming less like Him, but we are all becoming. And when we are authentic we reveal that we have not yet arrived. We reveal that the journey is not complete, that we are in process and that’s when others feel the need to step in and help us get complete.
Another problem with authenticity is that people will take your nakedness…your thoughts and words and dreams and fears…and they will use them for their own purposes. Anna Nalick, in her song Breathe (2AM) describes this beautifully when she says,
“And I feel like I'm naked in front of the crowd
Cause these words are my diary, screaming out loud
And I know that you'll use them, however you want to”
Whether it be visual art, music, poetry, a book or a sermon…whatever, people will take your authenticity and use it for their own purposes. They’ll run it through their own filter, make it mean what they want and then pass it on. And, honestly, I find that a little bit unnerving.
But, I have discovered that authenticity is too essential to me becoming fully what I’m supposed to become to discard it, no matter the risk. So I’m going to keep trying to be real. Some days I’m more real than others. Some days I’m too afraid to let the reality of where I am on my journey be seen by others. But I keep trying. And I’m going to keep trying because until authenticity becomes a way of life, none of us will ever “become” what we were made to be. So, do what you will with what I reveal about me…my nakedness…but I’m going forward on this path to truly becoming….I must be authentic or I won’t be at all.