What's your aim in life-- authenticity or acceptance? What's the difference between those two?
To aim for acceptance is to live your life by the question, "How far can I go and still call myself a Christian?" You want to seem to be a Christian, but you also still want to be accepted by your peers, without seeming weird or fanatical. Authenticity requires a different question, which can be stated like this: "How holy can I be?"
This isn't to say that we can ever attain a measure of holiness that impresses the Father. We shouldn't dare to be so presumptuous. But the glorious effort of striving is a marathon ran in the name of the One who bought and paid for you in full with the blood of His Son.
Life throws curve balls nearly every second of the day. The authentic person judges the pitch and makes a choice. The accepting person sees the flashing of the stadium lights, the multi-bazillion dollar contract, and the lofty endorsements. Above all though, they hear the roar of the crowd, and without a thought as to just what might happen... they swing.
It doesn't really matter where the ball goes. If it's a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth the crowd loves you and you’re everybody's hero of the week. If it's a foul ball you've got a few more tries before they set you down. But, by then it doesn't matter. You've made your choice and acceptance owns you.
The authentic person seeks the greater cause than them self and their gratification. They are spent in glorious worthy effort. My prayer is everyday that Christ would use me as He sees fit and spend me as loose change at His very whim. What's your prayer?
