Authenticity Over Excellence
What about our Changing Culture? (2)
Neil Cole writes: "Today things have changed. Authenticity is more valued than excellence.... The highest compliment, for a postmodern, is to hear you are real. The greatest offense is to try to be something you are not. Hypocrisy is a crime of high treason. In fact, there is hardly another sin that is worse. Whereas heresy was the worst thing for the modern person, hypocrisy is the unforgivable sin to the postmodern. Hypocrisy is the new heresy of the postmodern world." (Church 3.0, p. 32)
I grew up in a culture which promoted Coca-Cola as the "real thing." I remember once seeing a T-shirt with this slogan on it: "Jesus is the real thing." Now this might seem a bit trite, but this is what postmoderns are looking for. In a world full of reality shows, we realise that even with reality shows there is more "show" than "reality." But here is a chance for us to shine brightly in the midst of the darkness of a fake world. Jesus is "the way, the truth, and the life." He is real. He is the real deal. And our world needs to encounter that in us -- and this is more than wearing a T-shirt. We need to show the world how real God is.
This means as churches we must now simply talk the talk, but walk the walk. Our Sunday worship deals must be lived out 24/7 the rest of the week. If we as a CRCA denomination attest to the fact that we are "a church reforming to reach the lost for Christ," then we must actively implement this in our church ethos, customs, church order, and all decisions we make. Are we, like the apostle Paul, becoming all things to all people so that by all possible means we might be able to save some?
How do you see this working out in your life, or the life of your church, or our denomination? We might do a lot of things with excellence, but is there authenticity?
About the author
Jack De Vries was hired on by the Christian Reformed Churches of Australia and began his work as Ministry Training Coordinator in January 2008. In 2012 this role shifted to that of Ministry Development Coach.
Jack came from Canada where he pastored three Christian Reformed churches: Alliston CRC, Alliston, Ontario(1983-87), a church plant: New Life Community Church, Pickering, Ontario(1987-95), and Bethel CRC, Listowel, Ontario (1995-2007). Jack is a graduate of Calvin Theological Seminary (Master of Divinity - 1983) and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (Doctor of Ministry - 2003) Jack and his wife Jeannie currently live in Petrie, a northern suburb of Brisbane in Queensland. They attend and are members of Bray Park Community Church. They have four adult children and seven grandchildren living in the USA and Canada.
In Isaiah 58:11 we read: "The LORD will guide you always; he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land and will strengthen your frame. You will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring whose waters never fail." Australia has seen times of drought and floods. There is another type of drought in Australia; there is a spiritual drought. But God promises to provide refreshing rain, a never ending supply of refreshing water. The water he provides will satisfy the needs of all Australians. As we take up the missional vision God has given us we extend the life changing invitation of Jesus: "Come! Whoever is thirsty, come, and take the free gift of the water of life!" (Revelation 22:17)
