I'm currently reading Every Young Man's Battle , and although the book is veered towards sexual purity, I really like one point they bring up.. It says this:
"Question: What's your aim in life- authenticity or acceptance?
What's the difference between those two? To aim for acceptance is to live your life by the question, 'How far can I go and still call myself a Christian?' You want to seem to be a Christian, but you also want to be accepted by your friends at school and in the youth group, without seeming weird or fanatical. Authenticity requires a different question, which can be stated like this: 'How holy can I be?'"
This is a question that as believers we all need to examine in our own lives.
Often, it's hard to find authentic believers, whether it be in our church, our school, our jobs, etc.. Authenticity is rare. I can't tell you how many times I've been shocked to hear Christians I know justify their cussing, their sexual impurity, the movies they watch, and several other things that break my heart.
Because you see, we as believers SHOULD be authentic. What other way is there to be a follower of Christ? Christ was authentic in everything He did, and we strive to be like Him, so why do we find wiggle room to justify things we say and do?
See, the world is enticing. But if we are believers in Christ, we are not of the world. Our lives should show a huge difference in the way that the world lives. The world lives for instant gratification whether through drugs, sex, alcohol, acceptance, glory, etc..
John 4:13-14 says, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." The reason the world desires instant gratification is because they are STILL THIRSTY, because they have not tasted our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ who is all-satisfying. Once we have tasted and seen who God is and how good He is, we no longer want to say, "How far can I go act like the world and still be "cool" and still be a Christian?" Our question will simply be, "How holy can I be for a perfect and all satisfying God?"
Great thoughts; as Christians we are called to be authentic, but we often just try and blend in. The ironic part is that people respect authenticity, even if they do not agree with you. But if young people don't live authentically, not only will people not respect them, but it gives them a negative impression of Christianity as a whole.
ReplyDelete" The ironic part is that people respect authenticity, even if they do not agree with you." Nailed it, Gabe! So true.
DeleteWhoa, very good post! I agree that authenticity is what we need to strive for, but authentic what? Authentic doesn't just mean saying whatever we feel like saying or doing whatever we feel like doing. It has to be authentic in that it matches what God has revealed is His will for us. Uh-oh, I mentioned His will, that unfathomable impossible to find sweet spot that everyone is trying to find. To cut this short, I mean His revealed will -- what He has already told us in His Word. In other words: obedience.
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