Authenticity

God, in His infinite wisdom, has made each of us unique from the rest of the crowd. However, we spend our lives trying to fit into a mold that we feel best suits us or keeps us from the prison of loneliness. In college I joined a fraternity not so much to make new friends but to belong to something. I work with students who dress and act certain ways just so that they will be noticed and accepted. You can't seem to buy anything on the shelves of grocery stores that isn't at least partially artificial. And strangely enough, the all-natural items are more rare and cost so much more.

What does it mean to be authentic? Consider a couple of practical implications:

You are comfortable with who you are. We've all seen those "original" people that claim to dress and act the way they do because they are marching to the beat of their own drummer. But why, then, do so many countless others march to that same drum beat if it's so original? For a large portion of my life I have been guilty of being a follower, one who was never comfortable with who I was. I visit the local high school weekly and observe students desperately trying to fit into a group that they aren't sure really fits them. On occasion I enjoy the refreshing sight of a student who knows who he/she is and could care less what others think of them. They don't try to talk or dress or act to please others. They are who they are and they are okay with it.

You are satisfied with who God has called you to be. In the popular 1980's movie "Some Kind of Wonderful", Eric Stoltz plays the role of Keith Nelson, a high school kid in California who is artistic and eccentric. His father is a "boot strap" kind of guy who has goals for Keith to go to college and make a decent living for himself with an honest career. As a result he has made Keith save up money over the years toward college tuition, a goal that Keith does not really want to work toward. Keith wants to go to go to a school where he can study art, a talent that he possesses in abundance but which his father has never really noticed. In the end, Keith spends the college money on other things and when his father angrily confronts him about it he finally musters the courage to share his dreams about his future with his father.

While a student in college, I knew that God was leading me in the direction of Christian ministry but there weren't many guys that I hung out with that were going down that same path. They were going to be doctors and attorneys and accountants who would make lots of money and live a comfortable life. That's what I wanted and ministry just didn't seem to offer that. It took several years for me to realize that the only one who was worthy to determine my future was God, not the friends I had made over the years. All along I have been passionate about teaching others about my Jesus and equipping them to be His followers and after several years of "searching" I rediscovered what God had in mind for me all along. Are you pursuing what you are most passionate about or are you simply trying to fulfill the desires that someone else has for your life?

Who we are and where we are heading are two of the biggest concerns we can have in this brief life on earth. God has created us in His very image (Genesis 1:27) and declared that the pinnacle of His creation was very good (Genesis 1:31). Authenticity is found not in who others want me to be but rather in who I already am. God has laid the groundwork for ultimate authenticity in Jesus Christ who became sin for us that we might know the true righteousness of God (2 Corinthians 5:21). Our identity is secure in Christ and our future is certain in the salvation that He alone can bring. You can't get any more real than that.