by Mia Burke

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

-Inigo Montoya, The Princess Bride 16:29:33

There’s a word. It’s floated along in my social circles, been thrown around in an attempt to address social injustices, touted jargon in business, and advertised in the church. In the last couple of years, I’ve felt like Inigo Montoya from The Princess Bride (1987), I understand one thing, but see something else. 

The word authentic has become a value used to shame and a reason to ghost institutions, relationships, etc. At its origin, the word was a call to be transparent, genuine. But of late, it’s become a catchall for an excuse to ditch out. We’ve begun to hide behind a mask.

Fezzik: Why are you wearing a mask? Were you burned by acid or something like that?

The Man in Black: Oh, no, its just they’re terribly comfortable. I think everyone will be wearing one in the future.

-Princess Bride 27:13-20

In our Postmodern world, words have lost their meaning. Do we really mean original, unique, or unfettered individualism (letting my freak flag fly)? Authenticity is real, genuine, a desire to understand. Instead, it's become a rage to “be me,” a desire to nail hypocrisy, a reason to drop anyone questioning motives, or attempting to hold someone accountable (ironically, the very heart of authenticity). This ever-widening gap is closing doors to understanding, to conversations that desperately need to occur on issues such as gender, ethnicity, religion, education, business, politics….I could go on, but you get my meaning.

The authenticity movement was a reaction to hypocrisy and a lack of transparency. Preceding generations upheld traditions, even if the model and mode were outdated. Good on ya Hippies for questioning and rebelling against that way of doing. Pastor Drew Witt of Gathering Midtown notes that at the heart of the quest for authenticity, “there is a desire for there not to be ulterior motives in connecting.” A real relationship not for what one can get out of another, but for the simple sake of relating- something missing these days.

The quest to find the “real” us became the model, and I’m wondering if we may have overshot the mark. Accountability was chucked to find our true selves. But to what end? This is most evident in the latest Barna study showing the decline of church attendance. Many have fled the institution on their terms, due to lack of its leaders' authenticity, as opposed to choosing to be the change or to seek communities digging deep to connect to each other and God.

My musings stem from numerous friends deconstructing themselves out of the church and some out of their faith. Many feel that there isn’t a place for them, feeling that the current iteration of the church doesn’t know how to love well nor walk us through existential questions about reality, identity, or the nature of God and His duality.

On the other hand, we too easily give up when our pushes for answers fall on deaf ears or worse- when we face an establishment unable to respond thoughtfully/willingly to our questions. Many ghost the church without a real conversation: unwilling to do the hard work of searching for common ground. To find out God’s heart on a matter. We all too quickly jump for Satan’s bait: offense. We’ve chosen to put on a mask. And as Fezzik later notes,

You be careful. People in masks cannot be trusted.

-The Princess Bride 17:10

What does the Bible say about all of this? My daily reading recently had me in Romans. It says it all, for all sides. Open your heart and mind to the words Paul wrote 2,000+ years ago:

Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in his eyes.

God has given me grace to speak a warning about pride. I would ask each of you to be emptied of self-promotion and not create a false image of your importance. Instead, honestly assess your worth by using your God-given faith as the standard of measurement, and then you will see your true value with an appropriate self-esteem.

...Let this hope burst forth within you, releasing a continual joy. Don’t give up in a time of trouble, but commune with God at all times.

Take a constant interest in the needs of God’s beloved people and respond by helping them. And eagerly welcome people as guests into your home.

Speak blessing, not cursing, over those who reject and persecute you.

Celebrate with those who celebrate, and weep with those who grieve. Live happily together in a spirit of harmony, and be as mindful of another’s worth as you are your own. Don’t live with a lofty mindset, thinking you are too important to serve others, but be willing to do menial tasks and identify with those who are humble-minded. Don’t be smug or even think for a moment that you know it all.

Romans 12: 1-21 (TPT)

Can we Take a Moment to Check Ourselves? 

To those who have walked away, who were once on fire for the Lord and are now outside of the church- To those angry because of rejection, disillusioned by lack of authenticity, having deconstructed themselves into a corner they can’t or don’t want to get out of- 

I’m broken for you and the Church missing out on your inquisitive minds and boundless energy. But I’m realistic as well- you’re hurt by flawed humanity. The irony is that many have now put their faith in government, another human institution that leads down an equally dark path of disappointment yet totally without hope- man cannot save himself. Somewhat reminicient of our heroine, Buttercup, allowig her empitness to consume her over the apparant loss of her love, Westley. She accepts a pale comparison of love in Prince Humperdink, and allows her disillusionment and pain to lead her to a dark place. Our faith has something bigger than us- Jesus while government has no such savior, we already realize we can’t save ourselves.

Recently two friends and I talked about this issue. We asked ourselves a few questions as those hungering for change and authenticity. As believers working in fear, and humility to lead change within the circles we live in. 

• Is our angst at the “establishment” a normal part of working out adolescence (finding ourselves/our voice)?

• How do we allow for time to “work out things?” And grace for making snafus and mistakes to mature in our relationships?

• What is our response when we are asked/confronted about our motives or when we’re held accountable for our actions?

• How do we create a space for reflection, for working things out and coming to a constructive response?

• Does everything have to be positive all of the time? Can we create a place to talk about the complex issues without giving/getting a pat answer? Can we stop being expected to push our observations/feelings down because no one has that easy answer handy?

• Is it possible that there are things in the Christian tradition that do, in fact, meet our needs (lamenting, creating, confronting in love, etc.) and can bring us to the centrality of Christ as the answer to all things?

The answer is simple. We’ve lost sight of our initial encounter with Jesus. We’ve placed our focus on the human institution of the church and not on God. Let’s share our stories and begin the process of healing. Seek places where you’re heard, where you’re valued as you work through the challenging aspects of our faith. They’re out there- I even found one in the Deep South. Which brings to mind my friend, the wizard, Miracle Max.

Miracle Max: Mostly dead means he's slightly alive; all dead, well there's only one thing you can do…Whoo-hoo-hoo, look who knows so much. It just so happens that your friend here is only MOSTLY dead. There's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead.

The Princess Bride 1:12-1:12:16

The Church isn’t dead at all, actually she’s waking up. Authenticity is at best only MOSTLY dead, but there’s still a chance. That’s the very thing we’re endeavoring to do here at Bible + Pop Culture- create a safe place to work out questions, hurts, and to celebrate your joys and overcome.

Can we  find a way to move forward from this destructive stalemate? We’re stuck together on this rock until the end of our days, can we make it a place where the hard conversations make way for change for the good of all? In this season of unprecedented shaking of our culture, I want to leave us with a lesser-known, yet equally endearing quote of Inigo Montoya.

Inigo: You know, Fezzik, you finally did something right.

Fezzik: Don't worry, I won't let it go to my head.

-The Princess Bride 1:31:05

We finally did something right, and we didn’t let it go to our heads. Instead, we let it go to our hearts and then to our hands- and we made a difference.

Resources

We’ve created a free downloadable PDF to explore the article deeper. It contains discussion questions about the topic in general terms that will give you a jumping-off point for beginning a conversation.

The second page contains a way to see the topic from a biblical perspective.

And finally, to go deeper into the subject, we have chosen a few curated resources to explore from other authors’ and thinkers’ research or perspectives.

Read. Engage. Enjoy!

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Depending on how a gem is held, light refracts differently. At B+PC we engage in Pop Culture topics to see ideas from a new angle, to bring us to a deeper understanding. And like Pastor Shane Willard notes, we want “…Jesus to get bigger, the cross to get clearer, the Resurrection to be central…” Instead of approaching a topic from “I don’t want to be wrong,“ we strive for the alternative “I want to expand my perspective.” 

So, we invite you to engage with us here. What piqued your curiosity to dig deeper? What line inspired you to action? What idea made you ask, “Hmmm?” Let’s join with our community to wrestle with our thoughts in love in the Comment Section! See you there!