Authentic

Proverbs 27:23-27

Know well the condition of your flocks,
    and give attention to your herds,
for riches do not last forever,
    nor a crown for all generations.
When the grass is gone, and new growth appears,
    and the herbage of the mountains is gathered,
the lambs will provide your clothing,
    and the goats the price of a field;
there will be enough goats’ milk for your food,
    for the food of your household
    and nourishment for your female servants.

Last week at Breakfast Church, the discussion went many interesting places, as it always does, and one of those places was to a place of authenticity. We talked about the lack of authenticity in today’s world—our curated social media profiles, algorithms, and feeds, in turn making it difficult for many people, especially younger people, to connect with others, and to find out who they are in the process… to discover their authentic selves and be comfortable with that. Today’s passage from Proverbs brought to mind that subject again.

Now, this passage could, and maybe was meant to be taken literally. It could absolutely be advice and instruction for successful and established shepherds about how to raise and keep their flocks of sheep and goats. It could also be a metaphor— likely, in the context of when it was written, for leaders, for kings, or for attendants to kings—but a metaphor nonetheless, that can still speak to us today.

Reading this passage (which is really just a short poem) metaphorically, it would seem to be instruction for some kind of leader, or figure of some kind of authority to be aware of their “flock,” the people they’re in charge of— to be in touch with what they’re doing, to understand them, to care for them. Now, while Jesus is often referred to as a shepherd in the New Testament, fitting for the gentle and compassionate savior that he is; but since Jesus was ultimately against earthly hierarchies, this instruction for kings or nobles might not sit right with us theologically. But again—it’s a metaphor, so there are multiple ways to interpret and understand this as relevant to us.

I was reading an article from the Atlantic the other day called “The Democrats Have an Authenticity Gap.” (Before I go on, let me preface this by saying that I’m not endorsing any party or ideology from the pulpit, though, just a couple weeks ago the IRS said it’d be legal now if I did; but I’m not. And I digress). This article to me, spoke to some of what our passage today is warning us of, and warning those in power of. It was about how for so long now, the Democrats have positioned themselves, purposefully or not, as the elite, as out-of-touch with the every-person, in a political bubble without any real understanding of what the working person, average poor person is really going through during their day-to-day lives. They try to woo the public with complicated tax credits, and all manner of other political speak that confuses the average person (I include myself in that category of the confused)— and those in charge decided that the answer to this is to find a “Joe Rogan of the left;” meaning, some kind of allegedly down-to-earth, just-asking-questions, inquisitive podcaster with millions of listeners and followers, and therefore influence, to lure in young people, young men primarily, they feel they’ve lost. Liberal podcast host and former Obama speech writer Jon Lovett is quoted in the article saying, “… you can’t strategize [or buy] ways to be authentic.” And the whole article ends with a repeat of this statement: “You can’t buy authentic communication.”[i]

Now, again, let me reiterate, I’m not trying endorsing one side over the other; I think you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone in a true position of power in this world in this moment in time who is really and truly authentic, who really and truly not just knows and understands what the every-person is going through, but who cares. Imagine someone in a real position of power who really and truly cares.

“Know well the condition of your flock / and give attention to your herds.” Taking this literally or metaphorically, this admonitory line— a firm order. It’s clear as day—pay attention to your flock, and know them well. Understand them, connect with them, communicate with them. This isn’t some kind of complicated strategy about how to manipulate a flock into to following you or be influenced by you. There are no tricks of the trade, no loopholes, no shortcuts. Understand the beings around you. Give them attention. Care for them.

When grass is gone, new growth will appear, and therefore your flock will be remain fed and content and sustained… as long as you care for them and their food source, this planet. This is sound advice for politician, regardless of party affiliation. This is sound advice for any leader to heed, any teacher, anyone with a hint of authority. Care for those around you. Care for those you have a charge over. Care for your surroundings, your resources. Just… care. By really understanding and caring for others, we get a sense of what people need, what will keep them surviving and what will make them thrive.

And you don’t have to be in a position of power to take follow this advice. Listen to your peers, connect with them, understand why they are the way they are, and help each other out.

Now, let me backtrack a little bit to that line I skipped over—“…riches do not last forever / nor a crown for all generations.” It’s this line that’s led scholars (and myself) to believe that this poem was directed towards royalty or nobles of some kind. It’s a warning, right? Riches don’t last forever, kings are replaced; but if we make an effort to understand each other, if we pay attention to what those around us are struggling with, if we see what brings those around us joy, we will always have that support of our peers, no matter what position we find ourselves in. If we make an effort to connect with and understand and care for others, we will be understood and cared for in return.

“The lambs will provide your clothing / the goats the price of a field.” Those you have taken the time and effort to care for will in turn clothe you, feed you, support you. It’s this beautiful self-sustaining ecosystem, right? That’s the goal—to live in a world in which we take care of the earth, the earth takes care of us; we take care of and support each other, we are taken care of and supported in return. “Just as you did to the least of this…you did to me,” says our savior. Jesus’ call is to care for one another in this unconditional way, to see Jesus, to see worthiness and divinity in every person we meet; and this is directly in line with today’s poem. Because it’s not simply about helping people so they’ll help you in return. It’s not about having an ulterior motive of trying to connect with people to get what you want. People will see right through it. And they do—going back to my initial example, it’s no wonder the Democratic approval rating right now is in the in the gutter. People can see right through ham-fisted attempts at “relatability” and authenticity. You can’t strategize these things. You just have to talk to people. Connect with people. We have to approach those around us with real, authentic compassion and make a true effort to understand what they’re feeling.

As I wrote in my note to the church last week, I’ve been on a real Howard Thurman kick lately. Two weeks ago, as today, our prayer of invocation was adapted from a piece of writing by Thurman, about the fact that human beings are meant to be in community with one another, [community and togetherness are, he writes] “…the very stuff upon which our souls feed; For it is the door through which we enter into the Holiest of Holies, where You dwell. Behold! The dwelling place of God is in the hearts of [other people.]” And today Thurman makes it clear that showing only what we feel to be our best selves to God is not enough. We must be our authentic selves, warts and all. And as we must be our true selves with God, we therefore must be our true selves with one another—because that is how we are then able to understand our peers. That’s how we’re able to understand those around us. Because again, today’s poem doesn’t just have to be for people in positions or authority, though they would do well to heed this advice; “know well the condition of your herds.” Know well the condition of those around. Know well the horrid conditions under which so many live. Know well the gratuitously lavish conditions under which the few live. Know well the livable yet still unjust conditions under which the majority of people live. If you take the effort to understand these conditions, how they work, how they came to be, you will be more apt to understand why people are the way they are—why some are angry, anxious, selfish, frustrated—and you will want to remedy those feelings be working for a just world for all people… for all God’s children, for God is in the hearts of other people.

We can’t fake feelings of compassion; we can’t fake a burning passion for justice. We can’t fake connections. We can’t fake being one of and with the people. We have to be one and of the people by really being with the people. If we really want a better world, a more just world for all, and if we really want to do right by our fellow humans, we have to do the work of connection. And the good news for us— we’re not kings. We’re not politicians beholden to corporate donors or lobbying interests. We’re just people trying to live in the world. And so while the instruction of today’s passage may be difficult for those who are insulated from the world by advisors or riches, it’s not—or it shouldn’t—be as difficult for us. It’s instruction for us to listen to each other. It’s instruction for us to make an effort to understand why people are acting the way they act, why people are the way they are. It’s instruction to then take care of each other and our surroundings, and in turn, we will create a sustainable system of empathy, of love, of regrowth… a sustaining system of resurrection. A world in which, when the grass is grown, new growth will always appear, because we’ve truly cared for each other and our natural resources.

So yes, this is an admonitory poem, as the scholars would say—a poem that gives us instruction and veiled warning. But it’s also something to strive for. It’s a poem about the world that could be— a world in which the powerful actually listen to what the people want and need; a world in which all people actually listen to and connect with each other; a world where the grass and the herbs always grow back, where we are provided for simply because we have been good stewards of the land and each other.

So let’s be brave enough to listen; brave enough to be our authentic selves in front of God and with those around us, and really communicate and connect. Because in a world that makes it so easy to disconnect from reality and from each other, it is, indeed, an act of bravery to connect, to really be our vulnerable, authentic selves with people, while thinking about what others want and need. So be brave. Be listeners. Connect and forge relationships and build each other up. And we will build a system of sustaining resurrection. Amen.

[i] https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/06/democrats-authenticity-rogan/683072/