“There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” (Mark 7:15)

Don’t you wish more people would just be themselves, be real, shed the plastic veneer? Isn’t it refreshing when people just let it all hang out and don’t care about what other people say? Don’t you like it when people tell it like it is?

“I was just venting”, “Putting Myself Out There” and being “Raw” are all catchphrases in the quest for being an authentic person these days. There is nothing more noble or praiseworthy than a person who is just being themselves, casting caution to the wind, and letting people hear and see the “real me.” Right?

Cam Newton, the Carolina Panther’s MVP quarterback, is a prime example of this type of bravado. All year long as his team was crushing their opponents Cam would smile, sing, dance and celebrate. He was outspoken and noisy about his joy. Commentators loved it because he was just being himself, adding his own special spice to the game, playing to the crowd. After his team had an embarrassing loss in the Super Bowl, Cam responded by pouting. During his interview he showed open disdain and irritation, barely answering questions and eventually walking off the stage while questions were still being asked.

Many people said that he acted like a sore loser, a spoiled brat who didn’t get his way. But one commentator said, “Hey, at least he was being authentic! And isn’t it refreshing to finally have someone tell the truth instead of performing for the fans and putting on a fake humility? Hey, he was just being himself, you can’t fault a guy for that.” Cam later said, “I don’t have to conform to what anybody wants. I am my own person…I’m on record as being a sore loser,” he said, via the Charlotte Observer. “I hate losing. You show me a good loser and I’ll show you a loser.”

You see, he is just being himself, right? He was being authentic? He was telling the truth. Really? I am not too sure about that.

In 1997 a rather crass and silly movie starring Jim Carrey was widely popular, the name of it was “Liar, Liar.” The plot is simple: Jim Carrey played a deceitful lawyer named Fletcher whose son wished that he would tell the truth for a whole day. The boy’s wish came true. As a result, whatever was on Fletcher’s mind he was compelled to say. Even if it was nasty, derogatory or plain cruel, it came flying out of his mouth. Here is one simple example: Fletcher’s co-worker was a very fat man and he greets Fletcher, “What’s up?” Fetcher responds, “Your cholesterol, fatty!” 

Funny, isn’t it? But is that true? Is that being authentic? Was the nasty lawyer just being himself? Throughout the movie, Fletcher continued to ridicule and abuse almost everyone he came in contact with. He referred to people as, ”retarded, pedantic, pontificating, pretentious b@#$!, a belligerent old fart, a worthless steaming pile of cow dung, brownnoser, losers! Idiot! Wimp! Degenerate!” I guess this is Hollywood’s version of truth-telling?

This brand of truth and authenticity is nothing more than the spewing of human pollution and plain old impolite nastiness. Being mean, surly, critical, condemning and crusty is not telling the truth, it is allowing sin to distort the person God intended you to be; an image bearer of Christ created in righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:24). Just because I can vent does not mean I am being authentic. Often all it means is that I have no control over myself. It isn’t being real, it is being rotten. Jesus says the problem with people is not what goes into them, but what comes out of them, listen to how he puts it…

“Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?. . .What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

The definition of authentic is this, “made to be or look just like an original; not false or imitation.” The original pattern of humanity is Christ himself, so if I am to be authentic, I need to “be or look like the original” … which is Christ himself. Can you imagine Christ calling someone a fatty? Or if Jesus lost a football game would he pout, whine and act like a brat and call those who don’t agree with him losers? If you want to be authentic, be authentically authentic by living up to the pattern you were made to display – – Christ Jesus.

During the halftime show of the Super Bowl, Queen “B” (Beyonce’), pop-media’s number one diva herself, performed a routine that was in praise of the late Malcolm X. He was the Black Panther founder who was notorious for his aggressive brand of black superiority. She received a lot of criticism for her routine; and when her corresponding video came out that condemned police brutality and included overtly sexual dancing that she is known to perform, many people called her out. To defend her performance, one person said, “Beyonce’ is just being her ferocious black self.” In other words, her overt sexuality and hostility toward authority are her being authentic to who she is. She is just being the Queen “B”.

That is not who Jesus created her to be, or any woman for that matter – – a piece of meat to arouse men’s sexual fantasies. I don’t think God wants women prostituting themselves out while judging and castigating different groups in society that often are just trying to serve the people. Beyonce’, Cam, Fletcher and the rest of the “opinion spewing culture” we live in is not a sign we are authentic, it is evidence of adolescent arrogance where virtue and maturity no longer matters.

Whatever happened to using your speech to build others up? (Ephesians 4:29) I guess common civility and kindness and having “words fitly spoken” are no longer admired or desired. 

If I was Governor Snyder and I had to deal with the Flint water situation, I would simply say, “The city of Flint is just being true to itself. The sewage that is coming from the lead pipes is nothing more than Flint expressing its authenticity.” If Cam Newton can whine and complain, Beyonce’ can do a striptease, and ‘Liar, Liar’ is supposedly a great study of truth-telling, then we should be able to also spin Flint’s sewage problem to a positive as well.

Authentic authenticity, or sewage? Which one do you want to be?