Comments on: Why I’m NOT a big fan of authenticity

By: Why you can’t just “be yourself”

Why you can’t just “be yourself” — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:21:31 +0000

[...] written before about my feelings on authenticity, but I thought I’d put together a little video to show why being yourself leaves so much on [...]

By: bondChristian

bondChristian — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 02:08:13 +0000

Yep, there’s always that point where, for example, Abraham should have revealed that he was Sarah’s brother AND husband, but in general, I think we often take that too far in the name of authenticity.

-Marshall Jones Jr.

By: bondChristian

bondChristian — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 01:58:59 +0000

Thanks for the verse, Bob. Right on with that.

I don’t mean to compromise truth to make people feel good, but yes, we’re certainly not called to spill out guts for our own satisfaction. Well put.

Also, thank you for dropping into the comments. I appreciate it.

-Marshall Jones Jr.

By: Bernard Shuford

Bernard Shuford — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 16:41:10 +0000

Bob – “level of detail” is good – being honest doesn’t mean that EVERYTHING is revealed, and neither should “authenticity”.

By: Bob G

Bob G — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 16:14:21 +0000

MJjr:
Nice job handling difficult material. My thoughts:

Eph 4:15 talks about “speaking the truth in love” as an element of Christian maturity.

We owe people honesty, and a level of detail in our communication, that is appropriate to the level of relationship that we have/desire with that person.

Example: If the kid behind the counter at McDonald’s asks me, “How are you today?” it’s not appropriate for me to say, “My hemorrhoids are flaring up.”

If my wife asks the same question, and wants to go bike riding, I better be authentic with her.

Same holds true for spiritual things, confession, etc. My desire to puke out my innermost feelings to anybody I encounter is not the hallmark of Christian maturity. It’s quite the opposite: It’s merely over-spiritualized narcisism.

By: bondChristian

bondChristian — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 19:30:17 +0000

Yep, I hear you there. I think my biggest problem with authenticity isn’t authenticity itself… but staying with authenticity instead of doing something with it. Perhaps I should have called this “Moving beyond authenticity” or something like that.

Thanks for balances this out.

-Marshall Jones Jr.

By: Bradley J. Moore

Bradley J. Moore — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 10:49:45 +0000

I use Authenticity a lot in the setting of business leadership, and I believe in it – I think it rings more with your idea of “Sincerity” than the blathering idiocy of saying whatever comes into your head. Authenticity has a lot to do with maturity, and self-awareness. Which means you are aware of others, and what is in their best interest rather than your own. Also socially aware of how you come across to people. These are the aspects of authenticity that make it appealing to me, even though the word does get over-used and blown out of context.

By: bondChristian

bondChristian — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:44:00 +0000

That’s a good way of putting it, our cover word for disobeying. I’m all for “real” authenticity, but like you said, it has to be used to expose who we are so people (and ourselves) will realize that we’re still a work in progress. When it stops working like that, authenticity stops working.

-Marshall Jones Jr.

By: bondChristian

bondChristian — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 14:42:12 +0000

That grace + truth equation is difficult to master, for sure.

-Marshall Jonoes Jr.

By: Bernard Shuford

Bernard Shuford — Fri, 26 Mar 2010 11:26:42 +0000

“Authentic” is usually our cover word for disobeying the commandments to love God and love others.

I’m with you.

A big determination of mine, for a while, has been to be “real”. I want to be a REAL Christian, not a plastic imitation. I want to be honest about the fact that I struggle and that I sin, but if I’m REAL about it, that means that I am fighting to defeat it, not just to excuse it.