Christian Authenticity and the Scripted Leader

I felt repulsed this morning, and it took me by surprise.

There’s an online content-creator that I’ve come to enjoy watching. Her content is funny, relatable, and (until this morning) authentic.

But that perception of authenticity changed for me this morning. Halfway through a (rather humorous) clip, she made a very obvious plug for a product. Even worse, a website URL and graphic of the product flashed across the screen—all in the middle of her comedy “performance.”

Until that moment, I had not considered her videos “performance.” They felt genuine and raw—as if these moments happened in real life. But in the blink of an eye, I found myself repulsed at her in-authenticity.

Scripted Authenticity

Authenticity seems to have a growing importance as a cultural value for us Americans. This seems obvious as we get closer and closer to the 2024 presidential elections. Politicians who appear more natural, more authentic can garner more respect (on both sides of the proverbial aisle) than politicians who depend heavily on a teleprompter (with obvious signs of dependence).

I write that line as a preacher who weekly uses a manuscript (meaning that I preach from word-for-word notes). Yet, there’s a big difference in preaching authentically from the heart while using a manuscript and speaking inauthentically from someone else’s notes. After all, Winston Churchill also used a manuscript. Even though Churchill may not be the most moral example to cite, his followers generally viewed him as exceedingly authentic.

Which means that authenticity can, in fact, be scripted. It might sound like an oxymoron and paradox all wrapped together to say that authenticity can be scripted—but research and experience demonstrate that some of the most authentic people are actually the most scripted.

What is Authenticity?

When we think about “authenticity,” we often think authenticity means “being yourself.” I think this is why we prize off-the-cuff public speaking as the epitome of authentic leadership. The raw overflow of the person seems to be on full display.

While this may look like authenticity on the surface, there’s a deeper and truer way to define authenticity just beneath the surface.

Avolio and Gardner (2005) describe authentic leadership with four words: "self-awareness, unbiased processing, relational authenticity, and authentic behavior" (p. 317). Authenticity is a process of aligning self-awareness with public actions.

For instance, self-awareness and unbiased processing require that we self-reflect on our identity, values, calling, purpose, and all those guiding principles that shape our ideal self. For Christians, we can speak of the Christian worldview and the primacy of Scripture as our rule for life, faith, and practice. When we regularly self-reflect, we increase in awareness of the places inside us still needing growth and the assumptive biases we bring with us to the table of teamwork and decision-making.

Relational authenticity and authentic behavior involve the external actions of that inward integration. Having self-awareness and conviction, the authentic person then consistently aligns beliefs with behaviors. They remain the same person across all relationships. They act the same way in all contexts. We see them as “authentic” because we see the consistent application of their inward person over and over again. They have integrity of character, and we can trust that these people mean what they say (and will do what they tell us they will do).

In sum, authenticity is about knowing who we are, seeking to be unbiased in our processing, being genuine in our relationships, and acting consistently with our values. Authenticity is externally applying an inward script. Authenticity is scripted.

The Scripted Christian Leader

So, can a leader be authentic and scripted at the same time? Absolutely. In fact, because authenticity emerges from a consistent alignment of the inward person with outward action, the most authentic leaders are actually the most scripted leaders.

They know who they are in Christ—and they walk accordingly.
They can write out their core values—and they live by them.
They have intimate understanding of God’s purpose and calling on their lives—and they consistently make decisions based on that larger narrative of God’s Missio Dei.

If we return to the opening example of my “authentic” content-creator friend, we can see that my perception of authenticity changed when her content diverged from her inward values. I noticed the inconsistency between her simple, genuine videos and the sidelined promotional plug.

It’s not like her other videos are not scripted. Assuredly, she is following a very specific script and often has guest “actors” to play various parts in the script. Why else would her camera be on and running at such a strategic moment? Authenticity can, in fact, be scripted.

Another content-creator that I enjoy watching is also very authentic. This guy does news opinion pieces, and in every single video he has a promotional plug for a different product. It’s not that the promotional plug makes him (or any other content-creator) inauthentic. Quite the opposite in his case. His promotional plugs feel very authentic to his ultimate desires of creating truth-telling news content.

And that says a whole lot about all these thoughts on authenticity. Authenticity is about knowing who we are, seeking to be unbiased in our processing, being genuine in our relationships, and acting consistently with our values—and it’s very easy to spot someone who is acting inauthentic.

Further, the Christian leader is consistent in their inward and outward alignment with Christ. Spiritual leadership is Christian authentic leadership. It should feel completely authentic, natural, and genuine for the Christian leader to say, “Let’s pray about that…” But all too often, I’ve known inauthentic leaders in the Church that, like a content-creator plugging a product for the first time, feel awkward and forced when it comes to moments of leading others spiritually.

And I’ve also known authentic Christian leaders who happen to be socially awkward, shy, and reserved who still lead us to Christ in more authentic ways than a charismatic, outgoing, and inauthentic counterpart.

The difference does not reside in whether a person is extroverted or introverted—manuscripted or extemporaneous—strategically planned or off-the-cuff. Instead, the authentic Christian leader is the person who aligns the inward script to the outward action—and finds that inward script wholly through their identity in Christ and the foundation of the Bible.

References

Avolio, B. J., & Gardner, W. L. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 315-338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.03.001

Ross, S. (2014). A conceptual model for understanding the process of self-leadership development and action-steps to promote personal leadership development. Journal of Management Development, 33(4), 299-323. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMD-11-2012-0147

Shamir, B., & Eilam, G. (2005). “What's your story?” A life-stories approach to authentic leadership development. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 395-417. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.03.005