Is Authenticity the Be All and End All?
Friday, September 12th, 2008From Brandon O’Brien’s Stiff Necks and Bruised Reeds
Rather, Jesus was truly himself because he did the will of God; he was most authentic when he was least concerned with doing things that suited his personality (Luke 22:42). There’s an important lesson here for Christian ministry. Our ministry should not simply flow naturally out of our personality. Our being real can’t mean that we only focus on what comes naturally to us, our strengths. We are not our own ambassadors. We are Christ’s. If God the Father opposes the proud but lifts up the humble and Jesus does, too, then maybe the Christian minister, who is an ambassador for Christ and who bears the image of God, should understand in these examples a rule for ministry: to the lowly we show mercy; to the stiff-necked, we offer rebuke. Perhaps one or the other of those activities will come more naturally to us. It doesn’t really matter. It’s the world, not Jesus, that calls us to be ourselves.
If we find our authenticity and identity in Christ, we’ll have to be prepared to stop judging our effectiveness by how people respond to us. We’ll no doubt be misunderstood by some. But we won’t, as some people fear, be disregarded or discredited for speaking or acting in each given situation according to the need. That doesn’t make us hypocrites. In fact, people are more likely to question your motives if you’re always affirming, always in-your-face, always cool and groovy.
