I didn’t realize that the message of authenticity was cool until I heard the commencement speech at my brother’s college graduation last week. The keynote speaker told every graduate to find their unique inner voice and give it to the world. He quoted Howard Thurman:
“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
I agree with Thurman, but I didn’t agree with the keynote speaker, because there was something critical he didn’t say, something that must exist for authenticity and genuine life to occur.
First, there must be purpose to life. If I came from goo or apes or chance, then I have no inner light to give, no inner voice to speak. If there is no purpose, what’s the point of acting noble and true? Why not just get as much as I can, whenever, however?
And if there is a purpose, then Someone must have given it to me. I can’t make my life have purpose. That’s like a toy making itself come alive. No, something greater than me outside me must touch me.
The breathtakingly beautiful truth is that Someone has touched me. Jesus is alive, and He has put His spirit in me, so I truly do have “inner light” to give. I have a unique identity only because He has given it to me.
rebelauthentic 