Authentic

I think I finally know exactly why I hate the word “authentic.”  Especially in Christian circles.  It seems that it has come to mean no need for growth or improvement. 

“Authentic” people are the ones that can revel in their faults and shortcomings.  They don’t need to stop [insert vice here] because they’re just being authentic.  They keep it real by not [insert expectation here]. 

My frustration for this mentality is that it says right now- who I am and what I do is exactly as it should be, exactly as intended.   And I don’t believe that to be the case.  I believe God had amazing intentions for us.  But because we fell; because we sinned, we are not living the lives He intended.  Settling for a life authentic to this fallen sinful nature is short-sighted and hollow.  (I really want to call it pathetic). 

I am certainly not done growing.  Not done striving for perfection,  for Holiness, for Christlike-ness.  I would much rather be authentic to what God desired me to be, then to what I am right now.  Though this carries accusations of pretense, fake, masked, plastic, showy ...   Because I don’t [reinsert vice here] and I do [reinsert expectation here], I must not be authentic.