"We would do well not to be enamored by the kind of leadership that is so prized by politicians and CEOs, the kind that is conspicuous and, as we say, "effective." Forget about charisma, go for character." – Eugene Peterson, The Unnecessary Pastor (adapted)

When I encourage people to be vulnerable, they sometimes look at me with a curiosity that makes me wonder if grass is growing out of my head or my face has turned purple.

Vulnerability, authenticity, and honest abandon to the truth of who we are is as foreign as any alien wandering the streets of Arizona desperately seeking to avoid police contact.

In fact, we are just as desperate to avoid being found out for who we truly are.

So, we wear camouflage our characters, paint our faces, and hide our vulnerabilities from a would we suspect will reject or deport us or worse. If they knew us, we think, they would reject us. If we disclose ourselves, we will never get ahead. If we are real about who we are, we will be left alone in an abyss of insignificance.

We don't like ourselves as we really are, and assume that neither God nor man can like us, much less love us, employ us in service, nor include us in a larger plan.

How deluded we have become in deluding ourselves.

It is the very act of disclosing ourselves and being real that causes us to become likable, lovable, and usable. It is the very act of faith in getting real with God that informs our souls that we are already loved, cherished, accepted, and graced with a grace with could not earn nor deserve.

It is in coming to the Christ who gave Himself for us that we find ourselves already welcomed  by Him. It is in dropping our guard, that we are embraced.

Our true character is that real self we were made to be. It is the true nature of one transformed by the Word and will on the one who created us.

Just be yourself and allow your character to be shaped by the most creative force in the universe.