Being Authentic

I'm reading Becoming a Contagious Christian by Bill Hybels and Mark Mittelberg and finding myself needing some introspection.  Why do we Christians so often put on the SMILE for everyone - you know, the "my life is perfect; my marriage is perfect; my kids are perfect; I love everyone and nothing can get me down" smile.  Is that really attracting seekers to Christianity?  Or is is repelling them due to the hypocricy and phoniness of it all?  I mean, these people aren't stupid - in fact many of them are highly intelligent.  So are we fooling them when we "act" happy all the time?  Like Stepford wives?  Like there is one mold for Christians and we're all going to fit that mold or die trying?  God made us all so different with different personalities, character traits, desires, and talents.  He has a different purpose for each of us.  So lets stop trying to be just like the Christian that everyone puts up on a pedestal and be authentic.  Here's an excerpt from the book:

. . .  authentic identity.  I can't tell you how many brand new Christians stop me after our weekend services to say that part of what drew them to Christ was the realization that there can be great diversity in the makeup of God's family.

 

I remember one man's saying, "I came to this church expecting the leaders to be pushing everyone into the same mold.  And I anticipated hearing that there was a thoroughly defined set of specs for how a Christian should look, act, talk, smell, dress, and think.  But guess what?  I found exactly the oppostie to be true!

 

He continued by saying, "I was shocked to learn that there was no single mold that everybody had to be crammed into."  Then he said something I hope I'll never forget:  "I discovered I didn't have to renounce my identity to receive and follow Christ.  It blew my mind to learn that God cares deeply about me, He loves the way I'm put together, and He wants to use me in a fashion consistent with the design He gave me."

 

One of the greatest mistakes a believer can make is to renounce or repress his God-given uniqueness in a vain attempt to appear more spiritual.  That error is deadly on two counts.  First, after ten or fifteen years of identity repression you can totally lose your understanding of who you really are.  Second, there are some people outside the family of God who will never see Him for who He really is until they watch Him living and working authentically in one of His unique sons or daughters - one just like you!

 

Do you want to be a contagious Christian?  Then stop apologizing for your God-given design.  Quit trying to deny your individuality.  Give up on trying to stuff yourself into someone else's mold of what a good Christian should be.  That's not the game plan God has in mind for you.