The Real Deal

When a culture loves and worships Celebrity authenticity is doomed. The fad will continue until people get sick of unreal, artificial life. It may take a while and it will take some pain but the time will come when people get hungry for authenticity. Nothing satisfies like the real deal.

It may seem odd that people will crave authenticity and genuineness in light of our apparent fixation for deception and distortion. We may not understand it; but we humans were made for relational integrity.

We were created with a magnetic pull toward reality while at the same time we have a natural pull toward unreality. It’s what happens when God mixes dust into a human shape and infuses it with Spirit-breath. It’s the push/pull between flesh and spirit; the yin and yang of eastern thought. (More about that on another day-let’s keep to the real deal now.)

Authenticity was birthed by the Great God who is real. It flows out of God’s nature for it is who God is. God is real. When God incarnated at Bethlehem at the intersection of history and eternity, Jesus-the God-man, began a revolution for Relational Integrity. He modeled it 24/7. He not only embodied personal integrity, He projected relational integrity in His dealings with others. Jesus told the truth, did the truth, showed the truth and lifted up the truth every second of His life. Jesus is the poster child for the “double S” boys, you know them as Socrates “Know Yourself” and Shakespeare “To thine own self be true.” 

No one was ever more honest, genuine and truthful than Jesus 
and yet He was never rude. 
He had relational integrity. 
He was one with His Father. 
He was whole within Himself and projected genuineness and authenticity because He was not putting up a front. He never attempted to appear to be something He wasn’t. He related well with people from all walks of life and in vastly different circumstances. 



Rich, poor, female, male, Jew, Gentile. . . Jesus could relate. He was The Real Deal. He was authentic and genuine because that is what God is and is like. Jesus let His inner self be seen. He was the ultimate “vulnerable guy.” And it saved the world. Jesus showed us what love is, what love does and how love acts. He was genuine and it showed. And here’s why: Authenticity and Genuineness are rooted in projecting and providing an honest representation of who we are to others.

May God help us be the Real Deal; God knows our world needs it.

LINK to the audio file for "Honest Talk, Honest Walk...the blessing of Relational Integrity" on September 25, 2016

Upgrading Personal Integrity

“So God created human beings; He created them godlike, reflecting God’s nature.  He created them male and female.” 

Genesis 1:27 The Message

“The LORD God formed the man out of the dust from the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils and the man became a living soul.”  Genesis 2:7

Personal Integrity is a concept that is often extolled while being poorly defined.  It is common to hear conversation about “living according to one’s code” or “do the right thing” or “don’t be offensive” or “I did what I had to do.”  Those words sound noble, simple and helpful. . . depending on what dictionary one is using.

Sadly the ethical dictionary of our day is like a Wikipedia article or active google.doc; constantly in revision mode.

A suggestion:  we might focus on purpose and direction rather than definitions. Words change over time, for good or bad. Good words can be corrupted; unwise words can go viral.  Purpose and direction is consistent.  Why something is made, how it is designed and how it is used give insight into perplexing ethical matter. Purpose and direction provide a solid definitional context for wise living.

God designed and created humans to relate to Him, other people and the rest of creation. 

*  Majestic blessing - “He blessed them”, 
*  potential - “be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth” and 
*  responsibility-“subdue the earth, manage the creation” 

were bestowed on the inaugural couple by a wise Creator.

There was little absolute command given: “Don’t eat of one tree.”  It is as if God indicated just about anything else goes as long as they pursued the purpose and direction God had given them.

Seems like God may have been saying something like this: 

“Hey Adam! Don’t forget the most important thing: You’ll get a great gift, a personal integrity, if you continue walking in the light of My love and direction.  If you do that, you’ll grow your potential, achieve lasting success and leave a legacy that impacts the future.  Stay connected to your purpose and direction.”

Personal integrity is a gift I give myself and others 

as I walk in the light of God’s love and direction.

MY PART/GOD’S PART

“For although we are walking in the flesh, we do not wage war in a fleshly way, 
since the weapons of our warfare are not fleshly but are powerful through God for demolition of strongholds.”

                                                                                                                                                                  

II Corinthians 10:3-4

Becoming like Jesus is not a solo exercise for the God’s people. Spiritual maturity is a by-produce of a harmonic interplay between the child of God and their Heavenly Father. Until the child of God learns to discern and understand the ways of God in spiritual development, spiritual growth is a matter of fits and starts, advance and decline. What is true in natural life is true in life in the Spirit. Parents learn quickly how children often express excessive confidence in their abilities to their detriment. What parent hasn’t heard the words “I can do it by myself” just before an impending evidence of childish over-confidence? Our Heavenly Father must cringe when we do the same.

There are some things we can do and some things only God can do. None of us is equipped to deal with sin—but most wonderfully our Mighty God and Savior, Jesus Christ, dealt with sin through His redemptive sacrifice on the Cross. God doesn’t ask us to deal with sin; He calls us to reckon ourselves as “dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.”-Romans 6:11. If we reverse this order and begin to “attack sin” we will become moralistic religionists who are overcome with legalistic ambition. Sadly but inevitably the chaos of comparative spirituality begins and anger towards those who dissent from “our norm” ensues. This culture of comparison chokes out the liberty of walking in God’s Spirit.-II Corinthians 4:17

God will not do for us what we must do. God has dealt with our sin but we must face our human nature and its tendencies. We each have preferences and prejudices that may be used wisely or foolishly. Our harmful preferences for comfort and destructive prejudices for conformity must be squarely faced with God’s love. God’s love doesn't destroy our harmful preferences or destructive prejudices; we must do that by confessing them and destroying them-“demolition of strongholds”-II Corinthians 10:4. Some strongholds are destroyed by active resistance (like prejudice, selfishness, argumentation-“Reject foolish and ignorant disputes”-II Timothy 2:23), others are destroyed by purposeful neglect (like sloth, lust and worry-“flee youthful passions”-II Timothy 2:22).

Healthy spiritual growth results in us Becoming like Him as we trust God for what He alone can do and buckle down to do what only we can do.

pdan

LINK to the audio file for "How God Changes My Life" on September 11, 2016