Authentic Lives, Authentic Faith

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer” (Acts 2:42 NIV).

The early church based their lives on four ideals: teaching, fellowship, breaking bread, and praying. Are our churches rooted in worship and fellowship today? Are our lives?

Today people, especially women, seem to work hard to craft an image of themselves. We carefully curate what people will see, making sure to cover up our flaws and imperfections. How we do that on social media can be blamed for much of this delusion and disconnection, but the façades we create can carry over into real life too.

We need to ask ourselves, “Am I really any more authentic in person than I am online?”

Dictionary.com defines authentic as “not false or copied; genuine; real.” It doesn’t seem as though authenticity should be too difficult. Just be real, not false. Be honest and genuine. However, it seems many of us are hiding behind a “screen” even in real life, which is ironic because what people are craving is real connection. Genuine fellowship.

Look at the early church. “Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts” (Acts 2:46 NIV). They met daily in fellowship, eating and praying together. How often do we really do that anymore? Meet for a genuine connection and enjoy someone’s company? I know some people are good at it; they throw open the doors to their homes and welcome everyone in. But fewer and fewer people seem willing or able to do this.

Hospitality and manners used to be a thing. Why are we hiding? What if we had an authentic and organic faith? If we really dug into our faith, I think we would literally and figuratively throw open the doors of hospitality and welcome people in.

I used to hate it when people used the word organic to refer to non-food items. I thought it was just the latest buzzword people liked to throw around. Now I love the word. I love to picture an organic life and an organic faith. To me, organic equals authentic. The word organic makes me think of rich soil. When I picture an organic life and faith, I picture someone working hard and digging deep with dirt encrusted under her nails.

I want to get there, but what stops me? Fear. Uncertainty. Busyness. Exhaustion. These are not heavenly tools. I need to get into my heavenly toolbox and work for some authentic faith. And so I am digging too. My nails are getting dirty. I want to be authentic and real with others. I want to be authentic and real with the Lord. He knows the real me, and he loves the real me.

Even if you are new to this faith thing, dig in. Go deeper. Get your nails dirty. Grow your faith by reading the Bible and praying. Worship and fellowship with other believers. The Lord knows the real you, and he loves the real you. People would much rather know the real you as well. She is far more than the filtered and carefully cultivated image of you. She is real.

Dana Herndon is a writer and blogger as well as an elementary and middle school teacher. She and her husband live in Georgia with their three children. In addition to teaching and writing, Dana loves to read, watch Food Network and HGTV, follow politics, and paddleboard. She blogs at danaherndon.com.