The me I invented

Authenticity is a tough gig. In a world where people are not only constantly re-inventing themselves, but feel compelled by the culture to do so, authentic people are scarce. In fact I consider them to be the rarest of all people. But I would much rather have people like the real me than the person I invented. The problem is that the person I invented can often be far more . . . well, everything, than the person I really am.

More likable, more insightful, more knowledgeable, more wise, more knowing, more cool, more nice, more personable, more positive, more engaging, more . . . everything than I really am. The us we invent and masks we wear cause us infinite grief, endless stress, and pointless relationships since those relationships are not with the real us in the first place. We applaud when pop stars and icons re-invent themselves. We love change and new looks and cool accessories, but what about the real me? I think this person is in danger of being totally lost, forgotten and, shelved. I am not totally sure that I even know where to find that person any longer.

This is one of the things I like best about the up and coming generation . . . they are into authenticity in a big way. Unfortunately most of the people in my generation and those older than me, diss them completely for this honestly and authenticity, using it as a billy club to whack them with, because the authenticity is often raw and let’s face it, it can be really uncomfortable. It is much like what I think of when being with Jesus, the real live human man Jesus; its like really being with Him. He was always authentic, but I bet you this month’s allowance that it was really uncomfortable for those hanging with Him.

Can you just imagine the scene where the stone-head brothers wanted to secure the left and right seats, to be closest to the power, for themselves in Matthew 20? Then everyone else got wanked about those sons of Zebedee asking for such positions of honor . . . clearly they were ripped because they did not think of it first. Then Jesus slays them all with a discourse about serving . . . and this discourse is like one of the passages in the bible that is the most difficult and counter-culture messages in the whole bible. It is the annihilation of inventing or re-inventing yourself. Actually it is the annihilation of self-addiction. It is the bottom line acid test of a person who has died to self, and has begun finally to follow Jesus. Let’s face it, “if we are not willing to wake up in the morning and die to ourselves, perhaps we should ask ourselves whether or not we are really following Jesus?”

The me I am constantly inventing is not the person God is calling me to be. The me He is calling me to be, is the person I really am once I forget about myself and follow Him.