Comments on: Authenticity and Love: a Contradiction?

By: Jeremy E

Jeremy E — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:36:16 +0000

I think this essay I wrote explains my stance pretty clearly:

http://americanclarity.com/2009/05/30/spirituality-vs-religion/

By: Jeremy E

Jeremy E — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 14:29:51 +0000

Although I do believe in the liberty Christ has given us, free from the damnation of the law, didn’t he also show us how we should live? Or should we ignore the morality Jesus displayed and preached (after all, he did preach repentance) and say “to each his own way”?

Personally, I think it’s nice of you to not want to offend your brothers and sisters, but ultimately there is sin, Christ had to die for it, and although we’re no longer going to hell because of his sacrifice, becoming a Christian should imply that He’s molding us to His character, in both His moral nature and in His self-sacrifice.

His word should be the moral law. Without it, we cannot confess our sins to Him and become more like Him as required in 1 John.

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20John%201:5-10;&version=31;

Furthermore, in Matthew 5, Christ taught is that those who teach others to disobey His law will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. Notice the “in the kingdom of heaven” part. That includes those who are not going to hell. I don’t know what you mean when you say “controversial practices,” but I wouldn’t be too condoning there. Sin leads us to grieve the Spirit, and when we’re not under control of the Spirit, we’re under the control of our flesh.

So while we shouldn’t shake our fingers out of condemnation, we should do it out of a desire of restoration. Doing anything less would be an act void of real love.

By: james

james — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 20:19:12 +0000

dmoney,

I see what you are saying. As with any thing else, without love, it’s of questionable value. I like your observation about the role of authenticity as a point of accountability in community.

Thanks for the input!

By: dmoney

dmoney — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 05:17:23 +0000

I had a big comment written, but then I grazed the ‘back’ button and it got lost. The upshot was that I think authenticity is a very good thing, but that it must be accompanied by accountability or it’s just as toxic as the false mask of perfection whose inadequacies are for me the driving force towards authenticity in the first place.

The entire point of being authentic with people is that I get the added leverage of friends saying “You told me last week that you were trying to drink less, but now you’re saying how drunk you were on Monday night. What’s up with that?” And ideally I’m providing a similar level of accountability for them. It’s 100% about community and having calibration points for my behavior outside of myself. Within that context, authenticity is a great thing.

If it’s just about asserting that we are the way we are and to hell with the consequences, then I agree with you that it’s worse than useless.