Authenticity, Community, and Power - Audio

Consciously or unconsciously, we are all busy defining a version of our “self” which we project to those around us. It is our projection of the person we wish we were - it is our “image.” I call it my Photo Shopped self. Usually, our image is a composite of all our successes. We define our “selves” as the total of all our accomplishments, talents, and spiritual gifts, etc. But this image is incomplete and as such, inauthentic. Rarely, if ever, do we include our failures or our flaws, unless we speak of them in the past tense as something we have overcome [which is really just another success.] This false projection has two unintended consequences. The first is that it prevents genuine Christian fellowship because it is only half true – I am not bringing all of myself to my relationships, which means that I cannot be fully known. The irony is that the parts of me which need fellowship the most, the deep insecurities and fears, are never reached. The second is that I fail to grow into my God-ordained influence because I am inauthentic. And there is an irony here as well. The very weakness that we try to hide is what brings us greater influence. In writing about the relationship between authenticity and influence, T.J. Addington put it this way, “People of deep influence don’t hide who they are or the struggles they have. In fact, it is precisely because they are honest about their struggles that we can identify with them; it is their commitment to live with authenticity that draws us to them” When we are authentic, we share a fellowship unlike anything the world can offer. It might be counterintuitive, but authenticity is winsome. It draws people to you because everyone wants to feel understood and safe with someone who really “gets” them, and the quickest way to that trust is to let them “get” you.