Authenticity. For decades, being “authentic” meant being non-conforming, “true to yourself” – which usually translated: indulge your base instincts; do not reason about them. Christian cultures and “society” were the arch-enemies of “authenticity.”
“AUTHENTICITY” was one of the four goods involving human relationships. They begin with “INTEGRITY,” integrating all the parts of the person –emotions, instincts, reason, and will– into one unified direction consistent with our ultimate end. Only when we’re not divided within ourselves could we be “authentic,” i.e., reveal to the world what is inside as a unified whole, not a contradictory welter of instincts, passions, feelings, and slogans.
Once “what you see is what you get” inside and outside, a person can enter into relationships with other human persons, i.e., “FRIENDSHIP.” And only then, can persons enter into relations with the fullness of Personhood, i.e., God, which is “RELIGION.”
That kind of authenticity is hard. It’s not the “authenticity” of “take-me-as-I-feel-like-it,” because that claim could be inauthentic to my true self.
Why talk about “authenticity” at all? Because there are many efforts to use selective “authenticity,” to advance bad moral positions.
Some seem possessed by a mania about “welcoming,” which ignores how Jesus “welcomed” people to the Kingdom: “Repent!” Metanoiete (in the original Greek) literally means “to turn around” –from sin to God– which the term “welcome” does not imply. Jesus "accepted" the kiss of Judas, but he also warned him of his impending betrayal.
Where to start?
First, the Church’s mission is not to promote your lifestyle but to put every lifestyle under Gospel scrutiny, calling for conversion where it is needed. The person who thinks the Church’s mission is to declare “I’m OK, you’re OK” is mistaken about both the Church and her mission.
He’s mistaken about the CHURCH, because the Church exists to foster a life modeled on the full truth of the Gospel, on Christ, not select visions of “acceptance” disconnected from Christian morality.
He’s mistaken about her MISSION, too, because the Christian mission is not to say that we are all “OK,” because we are all sinners. But, by accepting the demands and the way of life of the Gospel, in Jesus Christ, we are made OK. That’s very different from expecting the Church to be your personal cheering squad.
Second, when someone believes in authenticity, he cannot deny it to others –individuals and institutions.
Parents love children whose decisions and lives may disappoint them. Sometimes parents even think those decisions and lives are self-destructive. The child may not agree, but the child has no ground to demand a parent’s surrender to his or her “authenticity,” to become another voice of affirmation in the chorus. Parents have a right, sometimes even a duty, arising from the wellsprings of faith, to sound a dissenting note; that’s part of their authenticity.
So, while you are entitled to your parent’s and the Church’s love, you are not entitled to compromise their authenticity in the name of your “acceptance.” That would be to make the proud claim that you are more “authentic” than others.
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