Request

Please, stop describing Christian “stuff”, like books, music, worship services, and whole churches, using the adjective “authentic.” The word has ceased to mean what it once did, and has been hijacked to mean something like the following:

au·then·tic, adj

1. Sappy
2. Overwrought
3. Slightly but not overly heretical
4. Having the pacing and tone of someone who sounds like he/she might have a second job as a college radio DJ (that is, while teaching)
5. Involved in some ministry which the white, surburban church you grew up in neglected (so far as you know), such as helping out folks sick with AIDS, or (esp.) some “liberal” political cause
6. Not having pews
7. Having a pastor who preaches in a t-shirt and birkenstocks or overly tight pants that he/she bought at a vintage clothing store
8. Incorporating incense and/or candles and/or any other liturgical accoutrements
9. Indicating a preference to call one’s church a “faith community” instead of a church
10. Having the proclivity to routintely and breathlessly use phrases like, “while we try to figure out what that looks like, together” or “faith journey”