Authentic Christianity~part 1

This post is inspired by some questions raised by View from the Trekant regarding authentic Christianity. As I read her post entitled "Rabbi Zusa and Judgement Day" I found two questions being posed about authentic Christianity. I would like to answer these questions by sharing my snow experiences today.

This morning we woke up to about three inches of snow on the ground, with more to come. Schools weren't cancelled so when it was time to put my son on the bus, I realized we had a little dilemma. His backpack was too heavy for him to carry the distance of the driveway, and the snow was too deep for him to put his backpack down and roll it on the ground. His backpack comes equipped with a pull-up handle and wheels for convenient rolling. However with three inches of snow, I did not want him to roll the backpack, and clog the wheels, and cause the material of the backpack to become worn.

So I decided to shovel a path for him. It was the light and fluffy kind of snow, so I pushed the snow a distance with my shovel, and then lifted it and threw the snow off to the side. So there we were, I pushed the snow, lifted and threw, and then pushed...etc. He came right behind me rolling the backpack in the mostly-cleared path. When I stopped to lift and throw he stopped. When I went on, he went on. Finally at the end of the driveway, I cleared a little portion for his backpack to sit, and for us to stand while we waited for the bus.

I feel this is very similar to Christians in the church. First there are some that would never admit that they have the burden (the backpack) or problem, (getting the heavy backpack to the end of the driveway without ruining the backpack, or hurting themselves if they tried to carry it). Then secondly some Christians will not let others help them. (Now honestly I couldn't carry the backpack either, it was too heavy for me to manage my son, it, and not slip and fall in the pre-dawn hours. I had to shovel. ) My son graciously :) allowed me to go first and clear the way while he enjoyed rolling the backpack in the cleared path. He's all boy and loves rolling the wheels thru the mostly snow-cleared path, making his own tracks. Together as a team, we got ourselves, and his filled backpack to the end of the driveway, while creating some neat tracks of our own.

How many times are Christians willing to work as a team, humble themselves and admit their own limits, realize and accept the gifts and strengths of others in order to get something done? Are we being authentic, or just proud when we don't admit our needs, or our strengths to help someone else out? I guess even the basic question is how many Christians are willing to admit they even have problems, needs or struggles. Do we want to appear that we have it all together (dare I say perfect?) and can manage life's little (or big) struggles on our own? How authentic is that....or is it being dishonest? What do you think?

For the second question that was posed, I'll tackle it in part 2.