Value #3: Authentic not Fake

We crave authenticity because it feels like everything is a show, a stage or a spin. Is that picture for real or PhotoShopped?  Is their life really that exciting or are they masters at building a facade via social media? Is that really what happened in the news event of the day or was that the interpretation of a journalist with an agenda? 

In a world of illusion we long for the real. 

Our souls desire and were created for real relationships with real people who experience real joy, struggle with real challenges, and battle with real courage to fully live in the Way of Jesus with one another.

This isn't some Disney-produced, utopian fantasy that is fun to think about but impossible to experience. It can and should be the culture of a church.

Authentic means that...
I am honest with God about myself.
I pursue being True-Faced and not Two-Faced.
I put on compassion, kindness, gentleness, humility, meekness and patience.
I bear with others and forgive as I have been forgiven.

It obviously means much more but you get the picture.

I want to be a whole man who walks with integrity before the Lord, my family, and the world. 

I want the church to be a place where we, like God, do not look at the outward appearance but look at the heart. It isn't about what we wear to church that matters, it is about how we live our lives.