Pilgrim Soldier

A few months ago I read an excellent post by Brian Russell that talked about authentic Christian Community. He said:

I learned the other day something interesting about everyone’s favorite coffeehouse Starbuck’s. Part of this chain’s success lies not in its coffee but in the ambience of its outlets. Why do people go to a Starbuck’s? For the community, right? What is interesting is that its executives admit that Starbuck’s has created more of a perception of community than an authentic community.

If the mere perception of community can create a successful and profitable corporation, what would an authentic biblical community of persons who reflect God’s character in their lives and live missional lifestyles create?

Brian D Russell, Holiness and the Mission of the People of God

At that time I filed it away for future use but in the last week or so I’ve been thinking a great deal more about the issue of authenticity when it comes to our walk. Last week there was a brief discussion about Relevance vs. Authenticity over on Martin’s blog and it was this that sparked this train of thought.

For me one of the biggest barriers that there is for the spreading of the gospel is hypocrisy. At some time or other the vast majority of us are guilty of it, but as Christians we don’t really have the luxury of being hypocritical. We are supposed to be living adverts for the Kingdom of Heaven.

We all know that in Matthew 5:13 that those who follow Jesus are described as the “salt of the earth”. In other words we are God’s seasoning for the world so that it tastes like it should have done. However, hypocrisy is like salt that has lost its flavour, it simply doesn’t make things taste like they should. The world therefore tastes no different to how it did before we were added to it.

Interestingly Jesus said that the only use for this sort of salt is for it to be trampled underfoot. I don’t know how far He meant us to take the analogy, but my understanding is that salt is often used to destroy fertile ground. Does this mean that hypocritical Christians not only fail to add flavour to the world, but also destroy the fertile ground that are the hearts and minds of the unsaved who they come into contact with?

I believe that the Holy Spirit is saying to the Church, ie all Christians, that we must be genuine. The unsaved need to see us grappling with life and coping only because of our faith in Christ. They need to see us practising the art of forgiveness. They need to see us making a real difference in society and be able to tell that the world is a better place for having Christians in it!

To answer Brian’s question, the potential of an authentic Christian community is phenominal as it will reflect the Kingdom of the great I AM, who can “do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us.” (Eph 3:20)