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By Victor Leslie, Lt. Colonel
While reading an article by General Linda Bond in the May-June 2012 edition of The Officer, I was captivated by the following idea: “To give spiritual leadership in the 21st century, we need to be people with spiritual depth and credibility. This does not come by techniques or formulas. Authenticity unwrapped is perhaps best described as the fruit of the Spirit. And that comes through the daily walk with God in intimacy, honesty and integrity.” Nestled in the middle of the paragraph, these two words, “authenticity unwrapped,” especially jumped out at me.
Today, we find ourselves in an environment, perhaps even a culture, where social media and networks encourage us to create virtual identities that are often unreal. The use of computer graphics to remake documents and people seems to be now second nature, and we willingly accept, on a certain level, that what we see is not necessarily what we get. Appearance isn’t fact. Just in April of this year, a virtual version of the deceased rapper Tupac appeared on stage and interacted with the audience before disappearing in an explosion of light.
With all this happening, do you not appreciate the need for authenticity? To be authentic is to be genuine, trustworthy and not fake—true to one’s own personality, spirit or character. In everyday experience, authenticity unwrapped would mean dislodging the superficial masks we put on in our artificial world and opening the doorway to getting in touch with our real selves. In the world of human endeavor, authenticity demands that we peel back the thick layers of multiple personalities that we take on in our dance with the dissonant music of social expectations. By doing so we expose the shallow imitations and reveal the discomforting truth that our lives must be in sync with our values.
In the arena of Christianity, authenticity has a totally different meaning and brings with it fresh expectations. In our vocabulary, to be authentic is to live in harmony with God. It is much more than simply being true to ourselves or our values; it is about being true to the fundamental principles of who we are in Christ. We have been crucified with Christ so we no longer live but Christ lives in us, and the life which we now live in the flesh, we live by faith in the Son of God (Gal. 2:20).
Authenticity requires intimacy with Christ, obedience to his Spirit and a life of total dependence on God who is our sufficiency. God gives us power to live in radically new ways—joyful, grace-filled, loving ways! It is no longer living a lie or being evasive; it does not tolerate deceptive and bogus practices. Instead, it is being transparent, pure and legitimate as we abide in Christ and live in accordance with his will for us. We simply do not walk, talk, sing, speak, inhale or exhale without displaying the undeniable reality of an authentic, credible life of integrity—made possible only by the transforming, genuine Spirit of God (1 John 4:2 MSG).
Here’s how you test for the genuine Spirit of God. Everyone who confesses openly his faith in Jesus Christ…comes from God and belongs to God. And everyone who refuses to confess faith in Jesus has nothing in common with God…These people belong to the Christ-denying world. They talk the world’s language and the world eats it up. But we come from God and belong to God. This is another test for telling the Spirit of Truth from the spirit of deception! My beloved friends, let us continue to love each other since love comes from God…if we love one another, God dwells deeply within us, and his love becomes complete in us—perfect love! This is how we know we’re living steadily and deeply in him, and he in us (1 John 4:2-16).
Scripture corroborates what General Bond said—authenticity unwrapped is best described as the fruit of the Spirit!
