Craig T. Olson: Can We Get Real?

This quote disturbed me today. Could it be true.. Could I be one of them.. Can I admit that.. Will I justify any area of my life that I may have faked. (confidence, false-pride where fear lived) I guess I could make a list and Jesus "could" make a bigger one (but wouldn't). And satan.. oh he has a massive list he's using against you 24/7 for his benefit from any direction he can use them. For him Fake is a good thing, and also bad, so he can condem and shame you later.. if.. you let him.

I posted a very long response today to a ministry website that had reposted an article on Creator or Critic.
Like blogging, I'm guessing few will read it, but it's part of the process of being, and exploring your self while allowing others the opportunity to agree, disagree or learn or reject you. Yes, I do believe that Narcissism is involved in all social media and I am in that group to some degree, so let's get that out of the way..

At the end of the day and the posting above, I reflected before hitting the send button.

"Can we get real" really?

My honest answer: NO "capital letters".

For a million reasons but one big one. "FEAR".
Only Jesus loves us enough to have perfect love that can cast out all fear, and in that allow us to be transparent with Him. And yet even in that, how many of us are willing to even admit to Christ what He already knows about us.

In a world designed around "it's all about me" i submit two things are happening.

1. People who disregard morality and faith, are more honest about their weaknesses and who they really are than ever before. It's showing up in a billion ways and places.
2. People of faith remain and are less honest about their weaknesses and who they really are as a result of "TEACHING" and false expectations of who and what they are supposed to be like.

There are no perfect leaders.... Except the one who came and lived and suffered and died and rose again to give us hope and a future when all was lost... Jesus is the ONLY ONE. Stop projecting and teaching and faking otherwise..

Parents need to learn to be honest with their children about their pasts and weaknesses and struggles so their children can learn to live and survive through their own failures, not hide and lie and live in shame of some unrealistic expectation of who they are supposed to be.

Exposing our darkness to the light.. what a concept.

The same goes for leaders, teachers, pastors, mentors and pop culture hero's. But no... we just love being on the pedestal, stage and at the podium being adored and called "elite and special".

I Googled "fake people" photos, and you can imagine how foul most of the photos and comments were. I posted a few here that were at least honest. Like the blog I read this morning from a talented pastor evangelist "creative". It appeared (I'm sure without his knowing) that the critics were the problem , not he or his band of creatives and hero creatives. (unknowingly he was putting "his" group back up on a pedestal for all to admire).

I'm trying to learn to be more transparent. I fail way more than succeed. I have friends who are so much better than I at it. So much less passive aggressive. They may be (in my eyes) way more imbalanced than I in many ways, and as a result, appear to struggle more. But hey, you always know where they stand, which is nice (;

So i don't know bout you, but I really would like to be more like Jesus.. and he wasn't fake.
He didn't have to lie, because he told the truth.
He didn't have to cover anything because He didn't sin.
Now really good people can succeed in the above two, and then develop a self righeousness that's worse than fake.. Damned if you do..... Yup, that's right. Exactly. Thank you JESUS for YOU.

I'll never be Him, and shouldn't pretend that i am to the world around me to feel better bout my self, but, I certainly can aspire every day to try.. and be.. real, and loving and honest and giving. Yup i know that the more I fill my flesh with His word and spend time trying to really say "what would you do Lord" in every circumstance, the better chance I have at hearing "well done".

So can we get real.. really? fully?
Don't think so, so don't expect if from others either. And that's ok. For so long as we're honest and trying to follow His footsteps, hear his whispers and realize our hope is found in nothingless...