A man pretending to be a priest was arrested by police as he prepared to baptize a baby in a small town in the north of Portugal.

“When the man said ‘in the name of the Father, Son and the Holy Spirit’ police came in and grabbed him,” a member of the church was quoted by local daily Jornal de Noticias as saying.

A spokeswoman for the Portuguese police said the 34-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of impersonating a priest and had several similar arrest warrants to his name.The baby was later baptized by a real priest, the local daily said. [YAHOO News]

I was amused at this story. It makes it sound as if the baby would have been baptized by a ‘fake’ priest it would have caught or fire or something. But this story got me thinking. How many of us act like this fake priest? Are you a phony when you’re at church? I mean, are you the same person during the week as you are on Sundays at church?

I watch this every week. There’s this idealized way we’re supposed to act and talk like when we’re in church, but it’s not who we are. It’s a whitewashed version of ourselves. We become these mannequins of Christianity.

So my question for you is this… are you the same person you are at church as you are at home? And if not, then why?

I’ll admit I’ve really had to train myself. Some of it was self consciousness  because I’m a missionary so I must act more holy. Some of it was my desire to not rock the boat. But I’ll tell you, it’s so much more fun being yourself and letting the chips fall. I know some people don’t agree with my version of ministry. Life is messy. We’re a messy people. So why fake it? Now I’m not saying that we’re supposed to be okay with sin (because I know there’s detractors out there - the holy police- that will say I’m condoning sin). I’m not talking about sin at all. It’s about being real. It’s about being authentic.

It’s this plastic versions of ourselves that keep the churches from really moving towards God and towards each other in fellowship.