Lent: Inside and Out

I am going to just tell it like it is.  You know people that get under your skin.  They give you that kind of smile that is not sincere.  They can say “Hi” but is sounds disingenuous. As if someone was pointing a gun at him or her and he or she just had to say it.  I pray for people like this and I really hope they learn to love.  Most of all I hope they learn to be AUTHENTIC!

The definition of authentic is this: accurate in representation of the facts; trustworthy; reliable…genuine through and through.

Now our walk with Christ should be authentic.  In fact, a lot of Jesus’ complaints about the way people are worshipping God are focused on authenticity.  The Pharisees just “appear” to be real followers of God.  Deep down they are “dead on the inside.”  People are following the Commandments, but are not taking them seriously.  People wanted just a superficial relationship with God, not a relationship that would involve any real change of their life.

If we are authentic in our relationship with God, and then with others, that means we are real through and through.  What people see on the outside is exactly what is on the inside of our hearts.  It means we are allowing God to shape our hearts and actions according to His will.  When we are authentic, people see who we really are.

Let me give you an example.  When you see me, what you see is what you get.  I don’t pretend to be something I am not.  In fact, I make my struggles plain for the world to see.  I am a man that makes mistakes and by no means is perfect.  But I do love the Lord, try to serve Him with all I am, give it my best on Sundays and throughout the week.  I will forget things like you do (thank goodness for Diane), but it is not intentional and I feel hurt, pain, remorse, joy and all the rest.  I try to keep it real all the time…in other words, authentic.

It means I am not trying to be something I am not.  Instead, I pursue with passion the thing the Lord is growing me into.

Your Lenten journey will be one where I hope the INSIDE will match up with the OUTSIDE!  I hope your heart will coincide with your actions.  You will discover the more you journey into Lent the easier that becomes.  The more you take off the “masks” and the things that you want people to see and just be the person you are, the more authentic your life will be.

So if you really don’t like someone stop being fake and just go settle it with that person.  You are not fooling anyone by the placating smiles etc.  If you really are struggling with what God is saying, then hit your knees and ask with an open heart for Him to help change your life.  If you are exhausted with putting on “airs” and the rest then take it all off and admit what you really are…a sinner just like me, flawed, but trying to be better.  When you do that, it is then that we can join hands and walk this journey together.  It is then that we become brother and sister forever.

Some people will never want this kind of authenticity.  They will want to judge others, complain and try to “look” good.  However, some will decide life is just too short to live that way.  Some will say it is time to be the person I am and strive with everything I am to live the way God wants me to live.

I hope the latter will be you.  If it is then walk this Lenten walk.  It is a walk that with each step we can and will reach deeper and deeper into whom we are.  It is a walk that, in the end, will make us more authentic, the real deal, genuine through and through.

Now go and live it…inside and out!

See you Sunday to learn how.

Rev. Jim