Have you ever pretended to be someone you are not?
When I was a kid, I can remember dressing up like Daniel Boone one year for Halloween. I had the coonskin hat, the musket, boots with fringe on the sides and even a plastic knife tucked under my belt. I thought I was the real deal!
This last Halloween, a ton of kids came to our front door all dressed up in various characters. I saw little princesses, cowboys, astronauts and superheroes. one boy (who was really a bit too old for dress up) had on a werewolf outfit and my dog, who was not a fan, growled at him the whole time. It’s one thing to pretend to be someone different when you are a kid, but it’s a sad thing when you do it as an adult. Unfortunately, it happens all the time.
Authenticity means your inside matches your outside
When a person presents himself on the outside as someone different than who he is on the inside, we call that a lack of authenticity. To be authentic means to be real, genuine, consistent; a person of integrity. It means your inner person and your outer person are one and the same. And when authenticity is missing, it can really create problems. I saw this first hand when I was in high school. I had friends who claimed to love God. They were at church all the time and knew all the answers to Bible questions on Sunday, but when they were on the school campus or driving around town on a Friday night, they were completely different. I soon discovered that some people claim to be one thing at church but live differently throughout the week.
Jesus boldly confronted religious hypocrisy
This isn’t anything new. In fact, Jesus dealt with inauthentic religious people all the time. on one occasion, Jesus was in a heated confrontation with some of the religious elites who constantly criticized his motives and ministry. In a blast burst of truth and frustration, Jesus called them out in public.
“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and self-indulgence! You blind Pharisee! First wash the inside of the cup and the dish, and then the outside will become clean, too. What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness,” (Matthew 23.25-28 NLT)
The word “hypocrite” was originally a term used in the theatre for a person who pretended to be a character in a play. By definition, the actor was pretending to be someone he was not. Jesus said that the religious people were just like that, play-actors appearing to be religious and right with God outwardly, but actually they were corrupt inwardly. He said, “You guys are like dirty cups, clean on the outside, filthy on the inside!” They loved to wear the religious robes, go to religious places, say religious things, but deep inside, their hearts were full of anger, hatred, bitterness, jealousy and sin.
Whitewashed tombs look clean but hide death
Jesus also compared these religious people to “whitewashed tombs”. Still today, if you go to Israel, the people buried on the mount of olives are placed into white limestone boxes that sit on top of the mountain. From a distance, these white tombs are beautiful, especially as the red and orange sunset reflects off the white stones. They are beautiful on the outside, but dirty on the inside.
Many people are spiritually hurting behind a clean façade
Many people live their Christian life like this – pretending everything is good on the outside, but inwardly, they are hurting, struggling – even dying. Let’s face it… It’s easy to go to church and be seen as spiritually having it all together, while your marriage is struggling. It’s easy to talk about loving your neighbor in church but harbor racist thoughts or internal resentment in your heart. It’s easy to talk about how people need Christ with your Christian friends but privately avoid any opportunity to talk about Jesus.
“Playing church” drives people away from real faith
The problem with living an inauthentic life is that we think we have everyone fooled, but we don’t. In reality, people notice that our clean outer cup doesn’t match our dirty inner cup. Eventually, people begin to think going to church is an exercise in hypocrisy. This is where we get the term “playing church”. Church becomes a place where people pretend to love Jesus, walk with God and care for people, but in reality, those things don’t exist. The only answer to this problem is to find a place of genuine authenticity where you can be real with yourself and with a trusted few, and begin to work toward health and wholeness together.
Grow Groups are the beginning of living authentically
This is why “Grow Groups” are so important. This becomes the place where people begin to learn what it means to live authentically before God and others. So how does that happen? Let me give you a few ideas.
Grow Groups are the beginning of living authentically
First, if you want the people in your “Grow Group” to be authentic, you must be authentic. You must set the example. Instead of pretending that everything is perfect in your life, you can begin to model genuine authenticity – being real about your struggles and failures, and how you are relying on Jesus to help you. The more genuine you become, the more genuine the people in your group will become.
Authenticity flows from a daily walk with Jesus
Another thing you can do is constantly drive people toward a deep, personal relationship with Jesus. Authentic Christianity begins with an authentic relationship with Jesus that is cultivated day by day; moment by moment.
This is why you spend time holding each other accountable to read and memorize God’s Word every day. As you saturate your heart and mind with God’s Word, you are pressing into Jesus, who begins to chip away at your outward façade and replace it with a real relationship. Keep in mind, honesty is key to developing authenticity. As you lead your team in applying God’s Word to their lives, it’s important to encourage honest answers; not pretend answers. When a person surfaces a real issue, then deal with it graciously.
God works healing through honest confession and prayer
This is why James tells us to “Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed,” (James 5.16 NLT). There is something powerful about honest confession and prayer. When it happens, God goes to work healing us; restoring us to the place where our outward appearance matches our inward condition. That’s the power of authenticity!
This blog features an excerpt from one of our books, Invest In A Few.
