Who Are You?

There is a word that has been floating around in my mind all day. The word is one that came up in a conversation with a pastor friend. For some reason, this word has not had the impact in many people’s lives that it should. However, if everyone was to fully understand this word and what it truly means, the world would be a very different place.

OK, I know what you’re asking. “What is the word”?

The word for the day, and likely the rest of my week is “Authenticity”.

Dictionary.com defines Authenticity as this:

Authenticity

Au`then*tic"i*ty\, n. [Cf. F. authenticit['e].]
1. The quality of being authentic or of established authority for truth and correctness.
2. Genuineness; the quality of being genuine or not corrupted from the original.

In my conversation with this particular friend, it was stated that people today are looking for more than a person’s status or title. People are not willing to follow something simply because their golfing buddy enjoys it. People today refuse to take things for its face value. People today are looking for Authenticity. People are looking for something that is genuine.

To my amazement, the younger generations are very keen on picking up on hypocritical people. If someone seems fake in the least little bit, that someone loses credibility. Their words become questionable, even if everything they speak is an absolute truth.

If a person desires to influence anyone, family included, that person must be accountable for their own actions. Influence only comes with reputation. In order to maintain a valid reputation one must hold onto integrity.

What does it mean, in regular words, to be authentic?
First, it means you must be yourself. You cannot try to copy the lives of others. I’m not telling you that lessons cannot be learned. What I am telling you is that you can’t try to mimic the successes of those you admire. You must accept you as being, you. What are your strengths and weaknesses? How can you apply your personality? How can you use the person God made you to be?

Next, a person cannot flip flop in his or her decisions. It’s OK to admit a mistake or to change your mind. It’s not OK to change simply because you have a need to please others. Great people do not succeed as people pleasers. Great people are willing to hold firm and take risks. Great people are sometimes very wrong, and they go down in flames. However, great people hold onto their integrity, and with this they are able to step back up to the plate and start over.

When a person is authentic, that person can use their own life as an anchor for others. How can a person offer a challenge if he, or she, is already known at failing? There is no standard to measure with when you live a life that lacks authenticity.

James 1:8 An indecisive man is unstable in all his ways.

A lie, even a small white lie, is a lie. To lie is to be unstable.
To lead a double life, or to hide things that are shameful to you, is to lack authenticity.
To compromise morality is unstable.
When you intentionally let those around you down, and when you can't be taken at your word, you are not authentic.
If you have a price in which you can be bought, you are not stable.

To be authentic is not easy. It takes knowing what you believe, and not waivering. It takes holding firm, even if holding firm costs you everything. It takes dedication and faith. Not a faith in self, because self will always let you down. Faith in God, and God alone.

Ephesians 4:13-15
...until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of God's Son, [growing] into a mature man with a stature measured by Christ's fullness. Then we will no longer be little children, tossed by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit. But speaking the truth in love, let us grow in every way into Him who is the head—Christ.