Be You!

E

arly on in my Christian walk I met some people who wanted me to change who I was. The way I dressed, the way I spoke, the way I viewed things. And because of my need, my desire to know Jesus and know his people, I obliged them and began to chip away at the fabric of who I am, who God created me to be.

I began to mimic and copy mannerisms and the “Christianese” of the people around me. I wanted to make everyone happy. Until I woke up one day, and realised I was nothing more than a carbon copy of this idea of what a Christian should look and dress and act like. And it horrified me.

There was nothing authentic or real about who I had become, it had nothing to do with who Jesus was moulding and shaping me to be but was more about who the people I had surrounded myself with were comfortable with me being.

The problem is that besides being completely demoralising for those within the church, those people outside of the church are pretty good at smelling a fake. They can tell when we aren’t being authentic. Our non christian friends (I’m assuming you still have some of those) and non Christian co-workers notice that some of us appear to undergo a lobotomy after becoming a Christian.

That maybe for a good number of us there is this beautiful honey moon period where we give our lives to Jesus and we are pumped and passionate and excited and they can see a genuine difference in us, but that over a period of time where we avail ourselves to the church we slowly become desensitised and civilised and lose the things that made us most uniquely us.

Unfortunately  those outside of the church a lot of the time look and see that Christianity seems to be more about cloning than it is about authenticity and a relationship with Christ. No wonder they are saying “no thanks”.

I said “no thanks” for so long because I was scared of what I would become should I say “yes”. Because I saw people go into the church as interesting, exciting, passionate individuals and come out like robots, no longer allowing anyone to have a difference of opinion, or having their delicate church sensibilities damaged by our worldly ways.

Our church’s should be the most colourful, diverse, alive, interesting places because they are full of people, individuals from all walks of life. People who speak and act and look different from each other. People with different thought patterns and outlooks and interests. People with different abilities and passions and talents. And thankfully some of them are. Thankfully there are some church’s out there that nurture a creative environment, where people are free to be themselves and express themselves and be most vibrantly who they were created to be.

The Bible tells us in the well known passage of Scripture, Psalm 139 that we are fearfully and wonderfully made. Crafted in the womb by God himself. He made you who you are, he made you with your quirks and your interests and passions and outlook on life, your particular taste in art and music and your communication skills. He created you that way for a reason and he called you to a destiny based on the person that you are, that he created you to be. Don’t change who you are to fit an ideal or a century old copy of who others deem a Christian. Just endeavour to become the best version of you. Endeavour always to grow and learn and allow Christ to work in you and challenge you and soften you…don’t allow yourself to be a clone of another,.. be unashamedly, unabashedly, unusually, unorthodoxly, uniquely you.

The Kingdom of God will benefit more from one individual in relationship with God than a church full of clones doing and saying all the ‘right’ things but failing to be who God has called and created them to be.

“Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.” - Oscar Wilde

Writer: Sally Joy Morgan’s life maxim is, ‘Dream, Risk, Create’, in fact the entirety of her passions and hopes both past and present can all be summed up in just those three words. Determined to always walk the road less travelled, Sally is passionate about two things, God and humanity and endeavours to give her life for both. Sally is a keen preacher and writer and looks forward to investing more time in these areas in the future. After serving for two years at Gympie Salvo’s as the Assistant Church Leader and Youth Pastor, Sally is back home with her family and friends in Brisbane where she attends North Brisbane Salvo’s.

3 Comments to Be You!

1. Hey Sally

   Wonderful/important thoughts.

   Thanks very much.

   Mark Braye
markbraye on May 19th, 2010

2. In some ways it hardly seems like it needs saying, but I’m glad you said it. It’s not very complicated, but in the button down world of the Army conformity trumps creative.

   Thanks for being you. I love your tag. My favorite words are imagine and work, although when I say work, I think of it more as creative expression rather than necessary toil.

   wayne
wayne Rumsby on May 19th, 2010

3. Great thoughts! Honor your Creator by relishing how he created you instead of giving into uniformity!

   Jared
Jared Martin on June 24th, 2010

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