Keeping it real

A genuine man is hard to find, nowadays. You meet them everyday - we all have our moments when we yield to the pressure to conform. It humors me every time I walk through our pitiful mall here in Fayetteville, NC and look into Hot Topic. Angst ridden young folk streaming into a franchised store to pay $45 for a "non-conformist" shirt and $18 for an "indie" cd that could be purchase for $9.99 on the "corporate" iTunes service. We all get a good laugh at this one, but what about when it comes to our faith? I don't know how many times I meet someone for the first time, in church, and they feel compelled to behave in a manner in which they would not behave outside the walls of a church building. Peer pressure in church is weird - no need to be "super Christian." The nature of our faith is based on the fact that we are all sinners damned to an eternity without Jesus until He wooed us with His saving Grace and brought us into a saving knowledge of Him. We trust Him as our Savior and we begin the PROCESS of sanctification. When we act in a non-genuine fashion, we set some imaginary bar (that we, ourselves, are not reaching) that non-Christians see/feel/react to and turn them off to our list of do's and dont's. Is that our faith? Not mine - just be real. Act in church like you act outside of church and if your non-church behavior embarrasses you, then evaluate the behavior. Let's discuss - and remember my rules - 1. Be nice 2. No anonymous posts - it's just not genuine, and kinda lame.