There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and shunned evil. –Job 1:1
Job, you have instructed many. You have strengthened weak hands; your words have upheld him who was stumbling; and you have strengthened the feeble knees. –Job 4:3-4
Authenticity: Job had it.
It’s my observation that in sports the best coaches and in church the most effective pastors are all authentic.
They are the real deal.
They don’t try to be someone else. While they have surely picked up traits and lessons and insights from others, they do not do their imitation of other people. They are themselves.
The word–I love finding the root meaning of words–comes from autos, meaning “self,” and hentes, Greek for worker, doer, author. So, we might say “authentic” means “coming from the author” or “genuine.”
The Bible is authentic. It comes from the Original Author (of all things!).
What started me thinking about this was a sports discussion on the radio one morning recently. A former UCLA coach made the observation after the LSU-Alabama slugfest back in November, that both coaches, Nick Saban and Ed Orgeron, are authentic. They are originals, copying no one, imitating no one, just being who they are.