BeReal
Brentsen Wyatt // UGA Student & Worship Intern
So, here’s the deal. I started writing for this blog post in February, and ended up with a 7 page document about our identity as Christians and how that affects how we live. I turned it in, and a week later Owen came out with his masterpiece that said it better in fewer words! So, back to the drawing board. I was wracking my brain to come up with something that would make me seem super-spiritual, “you should have been an English major”, “Brentsen has such a way with words”, those kind of vibes (‘twas my pride talking). I kept thinking and thinking, and had some good ideas, but none of them felt right. I couldn’t sleep the night before our Thursday Easter service, and it finally came to me. I need to swallow my pride and just be real with y’all. BeReal. Sounds like a cheesy youth group sermon series title if you ask me, but regardless, it works.
What does it mean to be real? Clearly, our generation craves authenticity in this world of fake personas and carefully-curated social media posts. We may deny it, but every single one of us has seen a picture or post and wanted it to be you, even if just once for a second. The app BeReal is a huge example of the desperate need for authenticity. Honestly, it is a brilliant idea. But BeReal is only an app on your phone. Again I ask, what does it mean to be real in real life?
There are two facets to this; the first is honesty, and the second is truth. Let’s discuss honesty first. Proverbs 12:22 says: “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.” So clearly, God doesn’t want us to lie. Pretty simple right? Kind of. When Jesus came, he took it a step further when he said in Matthew 22: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Is it loving to your neighbor to be deceptive, even if you don’t technically lie? Is it loving to your neighbor if you say one thing but feel another? He shifted the standard from simply following the rule to not lie, to obtaining a mindset of honesty and transparency.
I know I have definitely struggled with this. It is so easy as a people pleaser and introvert to use what I call “technical truths” (things that are technically true but out of its proper context) to avoid conflict or being dishonest about how I feel to theoretically save someone else’s feelings. And it’s not necessarily wrong to try to make people happy or avoid conflict, the problem occurs when you start to deceive others (or even yourself) into believing things that aren’t true. Like it says in James 5:12: “But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.” This can be a lot harder for some of us than others, but being confident in ourselves enough to draw lines is very important if we want to mature as adults and as Christians. And when I say draw lines, I don’t just mean drawing lines for ourselves. I mean drawing lines in our actions, lives, even conversations on the reality of truth. We can’t bend to what this world says is true, but we must stand firm on what is actually true.
I know I have definitely struggled with this. It is so easy as a people pleaser and introvert to use what I call “technical truths” (things that are technically true but out of its proper context) to avoid conflict or being dishonest about how I feel to theoretically save someone else’s feelings. And it’s not necessarily wrong to try to make people happy or avoid conflict, the problem occurs when you start to deceive others (or even yourself) into believing things that aren’t true. Like it says in James 5:12: “But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “yes” be yes and your “no” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.” This can be a lot harder for some of us than others, but being confident in ourselves enough to draw lines is very important if we want to mature as adults and as Christians. And when I say draw lines, I don’t just mean drawing lines for ourselves. I mean drawing lines in our actions, lives, even conversations on the reality of truth. We can’t bend to what this world says is true, but we must stand firm on what is actually true.
And so, where does that leave us? In the pursuit of truth. In addition to pursuing truth in our own lives, we as Christians (representatives of Christ here on earth), must be champions of the truth. Psalm 96:3 says “Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!”. If Jesus is the truth, we need to spread truth to every corner of the earth. Even if that doesn’t mean you are called to be an overseas missionary, you can spread the gospel to every corner of the earth right here in Athens. There are thousands of international students at UGA who are still unaware of the truth of the Gospel. I may be telling this to myself more than anybody else, but we can’t only live in our comfortable Christian friend group bubbles and cliques, which is so easy to do especially with roommates who go to church with you, if you are serving at the church all the time, you are deeply involved in a campus ministry, etcetera. We need to invite non-believers to play pickleball with us, share the gospel in line at Barbs, be a witness in your sorority or fraternity.
To sum it up, being real is being honest, being loving, being in love with our Savior, being confident in truth, and being champions of truth. We need to be transparent, draw lines in the sand, know the ultimate Truth and pursue it, all with the purpose of glorifying His name and spreading the Good News. Once we do that, we will start to become the realest versions of ourselves, which is exactly what we were made for.
Brentsen Wyatt is a 3rd year at UGA, Majoring in Management Information Systems with a certificate in Music Business. As well as his role as a Worship intern, he works as a Communications Specialist at the Georgia Vocational Rehabilitation Agency, as well as produces, writes, and releases music for himself and others. In his free time, if not working on music or cinematography projects, he enjoys watching movies and long walks on the beach.
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Brentsen Wyatt // UGA Student & Worship Intern