Genuine

Genuine

Examine yourselves to see if your faith is genuine. Test yourselves.

MY FRIEND AND I were there by appointment. Wide-eyed with excitement, I followed a staffer into the Ashmolean Museum’s Print Room, an average-sized space filled with wooden tables and surrounded by built-in cabinets. Leading us toward a table, the staffer donned white gloves to place the drawings upright for us to view: sketches by Michelangelo, now at my fingertips.

Studying abroad in England, I’d only recently discovered a love for art. My small-town upbringing hadn’t led to many museum visits, but I was surrounded by it here. History and art felt like they were around every corner, waiting to be discovered. And when I heard that the Ashmolean Museum—just a few short blocks from the building I lived in—possessed some of Michelangelo’s drawings, several of which were available for viewing, I jumped at the chance.

Now, as I watched the staffer ceremoniously place the drawings on the table, time felt unhurried and silence reigned. Some were raw sketches in bold slashes of black, others more finely nuanced drawings in red chalk, but all were awe-inspiring visions of architectural designs, studies for the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and Medici Tombs, and religious subjects such as the Pietà.

They were beautiful, but more than that, they were genuine. In the art world, value is tied to authenticity. Experts used to determine a painting’s legitimacy through a surface-level assessment of whether the artistic style fit the artist’s usual technique. Nowadays, the test is more challenging—a study of the painter’s signature alongside dating and scientific analysis to determine whether or not something is truly genuine.

In this case, art mimics life. It’s only through testing that the genuineness of our commitment to Jesus becomes clear. Like the close examination of a priceless piece of art, testing brings the truth to light and determines the depth of who and whose we are. It establishes how genuine something or someone truly is. After all, it takes more than a surface examination to see the heart of someone. When we consider that truth—that testing reveals our genuine, authentic character—it’s possible to see the troubles we face in a more positive light. Rather than a trial to endure, it reveals our inner heart. And that genuineness is always something to celebrate.

Lord, thank you that you see beyond the surface of our lives. Help us to be true to you. Amen.

-Kristin

One Good Step: Reflect on times you’ve been tested and what it revealed about your genuine character.