Authenticity is biblical, and it’s even fashionable these days.  But it’s also quite offensive among followers of Christ.  We talk about diversity in the body of Christ, but we are often very uncomfortable with people with different preferences and convictions.

We tend to be attracted and most comfortable with people like us.  We follow leaders and who are most like us and then mimic them with a cultic allegiance.  We don’t associate with people who disagree with our theological nuances.  As a result we speak of authenticity yet only celebrate uniformity to our particular ideas, styles, and approach to faith.

Before you think I’m going liberal, please know I’m not suggesting we dilute timeless doctrines of the faith.  Instead, I’m challenging the growing barriers to authentic community within the theologically conservative Christian culture.

Paul dealt with a similar phenomenon in Corinth.  He said,

For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not walking like mere men?  For when one says, “I am of Paul,” and another, “I am of Apollos,” are you not mere men?—1 Corinthians 3:3b-4.

Consider the barriers we naturally build in the family of faith:

Barrier of insecurity.

John said, “There is no fear in love…”—1 John 4:18.  But these believers were jealous.  And jealousy finds its root in fear…fear of being left out, fear of being found out, fear of being called out.  Our intolerance of others has more to do with us than them.

Barrier of irritation.

Passion is good.  Being firmly convinced is healthy.  But a theology that produces an ongoing attitude of strife, anger, or frustration toward fellow believers is not a Spirit-filled, biblical theology at all.

Barrier of immaturity.

“Mere men.” That’s what Paul called the Corinthians.  Division in the body based on personalities or preferences is immature.  It’s only natural.  And it reveals a flesh-controlled disconnect between one’s orthodoxy and orthopraxy.

Barrier of identification.

Some Corinthians were Pauline.  Others followed Apollos.  Either way they found their identity in another mere man.  Authentic community only grows when our identity is in Christ alone.  We learn from many people, but we belong to Christ (1 Corinthians 3:23).

Barrier of imitation.

Whenever we find our identity in a man, we tend to copy that man.  And we expect others to copy that man.  Soon our expectations of others create an elite cardboard cutout cult rather than an authentic community of Jesus-followers.

We grow in all shapes, sizes, and styles.  Some are brainy; others are practical.  Some are cosmopolitan; others think that’s a kind of ice cream.  Some are casual, others very serious.  But however God personally grows us, authentic community is built on one powerful foundation, which is Jesus Christ.

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