Who are you? Who do people think you are? Are those answers different? Do the answers match? If they don't there's changes that need to me made. This question can also be ask corporately not just individually. Who are you as a church? Who do people think you are? Are those answers the same? Are they different? Are you and the church living a life that is consistent with the life of Jesus? Why do you do the things you do? Both individually and collectively? How are you reacting to the influence of Jesus in your life?
Acts 3:1-10, "1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour. 2 And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple.3 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. 4 And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, "Look at us." 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, "I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!" 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 And leaping up he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him." Two things I'd like for us to take away from this story. First, John looks at him and says, "Look at us." What did this lame man see? Wrinkles, dust, faces... Normal people... Ordinary people... With weaknesses and issues. That makes people uncomfortable because when you say, "Look at us" you're basically saying, "this is who we are." "This is who I am." It's okay to be different, it's okay to be who you are, because God created you. You don't need to conform to anything or anyone except to Jesus. If you love Jesus, then be like Jesus.
It's what James talks about in James 5:16, "16 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working." I'm not telling anybody anything about me... What will they think? What James is saying is that we need to be able to get to the point were our failures are not our secrets. Where we can say, "Look at me..." it's okay. I can bare my soul to you, 'cause I know there won't be any gossip, any backstabbing, any rejection. I can talk about my weakness, my struggles, my doubts, my frustration and in turn I will receive, encouragement, support, and friendship.
How does this work on a corporate level? How does the church say, "look at us?" Are we an authentic enough organization that we can confess our sins, and share our weaknesses, our struggles, our doubts, and our frustrations? Are we authentic enough to say, "We blew it..." or do we continue to portray a different image of who we really are? Are we really loving, or do we just like saying we are... Are we really accepting or do we just like the idea of being accepting.
The desire for preserving our image sometimes is greater than our desire for preserving His image. But that is exactly what we are supposed to be... His image.
This is how Paul puts it in 2 Corinthians 5:17-21 "17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation;19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God." Listen how The Message puts it verse 19, 20, "19 God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing.20 We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you." So, who am I? Who are you? When we talk about Authenticity as, "Being who you are and giving what you have" the first thing to realize is pretty simple... You are Christ's representatives... Bottom line, go represent! I know, that was cheesy! Be who you are, give what you have.
dany
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