The real me

I have found myself to be in a horrible pattern lately. Actually, for about the past two years. I have found that I am quite the politician. (Hear me when I say this. Politicians are great just keep reading.) Some of our politicians we trust. others we do not. They pander. They lie, and they try to please everyone. All this to get votes. To stay in office. To feel important. In my time in ministry, I have fond out that everyone wants to be important. They want to feel significant, to be a part of something great. Well, I have news for you. I have been a little political in my time. I have known the right people, (Name dropper) read the right books (Does skimming count? I actually only started reading them all the way through about a month ago), and knew the right things to say. (Cultural chameleon) So here's what I have to say now...

God has called me to a new level of authenticity. To be unapologetic about who I am. So what if I haven't read the latest Maxwell book, or I don't know every last bit of new technology available? It's OK. For too long, I have been the name dropping, know it all, cookie cutter worship leader, and it's gone on long enough. I want to be man enough to tell you who I am and what I think. I want to learn to be honest enough to tell you that a lot of the time, I don't know what the right answer is, or how I feel about a certain political view. I am me. I am young. I am growing, and I think the first step to being great is just to be myself. That's what I intend to do. If you'll notice, I updated my "about me" section to express more of really who I am, not who I want the internet world to perceive me as. One day, I want to be an expert in my field. I honestly hope that I'm a top 40 recording artist, or maybe get the privilege to lead tens of thousands of people in the worship of a holy God. Who knows? But for now, I am not going to pretend to know it all. I am going to focus on honing in on the abilities that God has given me. I am going to learn how to be a better leader, husband, son, worker, co-worker, brother, professional, singer, musician, worship leader, listener, and most importantly, a better follower of Christ. So for the next few months, I am going to be reinventing my method of social interaction. I might not talk as much. You may find me being very quiet just so I can listen and learn from the people around me.

This isn't something that I woke up this morning and decided to do. I've been trying to shift to this mindset for a couple of weeks, and it's been very liberating. I have blogged more. Said what I really thought. Learned to value friendships more, and give more away. Spent less time wasting time, and more with my wife. (I'm getting there) It's felt great. I think what God wants us to be next to being sold out for him, is to be exactly what he created us to be- ourselves.

For whoever read this- Thanks for not wanting to cut yourself as a result of this post. If you read this whole thing- I count you as a true friend. So here I come.. Just me, the real Josh. Good or bad, pretty or ugly, dorky or not, I want you to know me. I hope I get to know who you really are too.

Cheers,

Josh