There is an idea that has been floating around out there for a while that says as long as you are honest about your mistakes then everything is good. There has been a premium placed on authenticity and transparency over the last few years that is very healthy in one respect. However, it can very quickly become unhealthy if we believe that as long as we are honest about our mistakes it means it is alright to keep on making them. I believe part of this comes out of a desire to not be a hypocrite and the typical definition of a hypocrite is someone who is doing one thing and saying another…so all of that is solved if you just talk openly about what you do. Right? Well, not so much. Authenticity and transparency about our struggles is pointless without true repentance. Talking openly about our struggles doesn’t allow us to give a nod to the sin in our lives. Authenticity and openness in their best, healthiest form allow us to get all of our stuff out on the table so that we can work on it and make things better.
The paragon of virtue is not openness and honesty in and of itself…even those things can and will be twisted. Virtue and holiness require repentance and repentance is impossible to do without being honest with ourselves. So authenticity is a good start but it is not where we finish.
