Viewpoint: Churches should emanate authenticity
11-06-2009
In the October edition of the Arkansas United Methodist, I introduced three fragrances drawing the emerging generation to the church: warmth, authenticity and power.The second of these aromas fights against an odor seeping beneath the doors of sanctuaries and saturating the carpets with its stench. This is the odor of the counterfeit.
As Christians, we appear different to the world because according to “God has set [us] above our companions by anointing [us] with the oil of joy” (Hebrews 1:9).
We’re not fraught with worry because we give our concerns to God and let “the peace of God, which transcends all understanding … guard [our] hearts and [our] minds in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 4:6-7).
Ideally, we’re supposed to tread on clouds, happy as clams in high tide.
Meanwhile, it often appears that our joy and our peace is ransacked by pain and frustrations. It could be a child who failed his drug test again or a boss who just won’t leave things alone.
We don’t want to share our problems because we don’t want people to misconceive that we’re not right with God.
Or maybe we find our weakness embarrassing to God. Or maybe we’re supposed to be the strong one on whom everyone depends.
Whoever we are, this mask of sanity is counterfeit. Oxford English Dictionary defines counterfeit as “made in imitation of that which is genuine; … made of inferior or base materials … misshapen.”
When we try to imitate Christians, it’s like trying to paint a picture from memory rather than using a photograph, resulting in a misshapen glob. It may have the same coloring or nose as the original, but misses the mark entirely.
As the Beloved, we’re not to be imitators of Christians. We desire to have more than just the same coloring. Brothers and Sisters, we are — as Ephesians 5:1 says — to be imitators of Christ!
The “oil of joy” and “the peace of God” are only available through God; thus when we’re trying to look like Christians, we cover ourselves with “inferior or base materials,” which melt away in heat leaving an empty canvas.
May Christ be the sole model for painting our lives.
When visiting my grandparents in Hot Springs, my grandmother would make the best chocolate cake in the history of cakes.
When we’d walk through the door, we’d know that what we were smelling wasn’t branded and manufactured love. We’d breathe authentic love in tasteable air.
When young people worship in a church where people are crying out for healing, expressing their sorrow and joy, and weeping for Jesus, we know that it is not a counterfeit odor.
That’s “the sweet fragrance of Christ” (II Corinthians 2:15), richer than the deepest chocolate.
This week, let’s be genuine. Let’s give honest answers when someone asks about our day because this is not a branded and manufactured religion.
It is a deep movement of the living God to transform us to smell like love.
Mary Faith “Zoe” Miles is a junior at Oklahoma City University in Oklahoma, a United Methodist institution. She can be reached at mmiles.stu1@my.okcu.edu.
