“If we were able to put aside our need for approval long enough to be authentic, then, surely, we would be living as the church.(Sheila Walsh)”
This is a nice sentiment and has a Christian ring to it. i really appreciate Sheila Walsh and have great regard for her, but I do not think this sentiment is necessarily on target. What I have observed is that in being “authentic” with some people, most notably among many within the church, is that one simply hands the pharisees within the church fodder with which to judge a person and reject them for things they don’t understand or that they just simply don’t like. If you are going to be authentic with more than a close handful of people who really know, love, and accept you, you better be prepared to take flack and even find yourself standing alone. To jettison one’s need for approval of anyone other than God is a good thing, but authenticity will subject you to a considerable amount of misunderstanding and judgement by those who are unmerciful, proud, and who exercise power to control and promote their own message instead of to liberate Christ’s. “Church” has increasingly come to mean any group of people who self-affiliate by virtue of shared values (and sometimes very narrowly so) with one another rather than shared faith in and devotion to Christ. )6/19/2017)