I've been thinking...

Chad always gets nervous when I say 'I've been thinking'.  He fears whatever I'm contemplating is either going to be complicated, embarrassing or expensive.  Sadly, he's not always wrong.  
 
Today, I'm preaching (well, really blogging) to the choir.  Literally, I'm talking to those of you who have grown-up in Church and have been a Christian practically all your life.  I'm talking to you who were (and are) at Church at least 15 minutes before the doors open and 30 minutes after every time the doors are closed.  Those of you who attended Sunday School every Sunday and short of being in hospital never dreamed of being able to 'skip church'.  Some of the females in this crowd probably weren't ever allowed to wear pants to a service growing up either.  Those of you are behind the scenes making sure everything runs smoothly.  Those of you who maybe haven't even had the opportunity to sit in a service in ages because you're serving elsewhere in the building. I'm talking to you who do and have done 'every thing right'.   

I'm going to rock your boat...I'm talking about 'openness' and 'vulnerability'.  I must admit, this is extremely difficult for me.  It's it goes against my inner-most being.  Everything inside me cries for me shut up and slap on a smile! 

I think this openness and vulnerability thing is a challenge for some of us...maybe even most of us who have spent our lives in the Church, or who are now in a leadership role.  We are constantly told to 'set the example' or 'be the example'.  And I know everyone who told me that growing up had the purest intentions at heart, for goodness sakes I've even told my own kids that.  I mean, after all didn't Paul instruct Timothy with those very words. "Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity." (1 Timothy 4:12 emphasis mine).  And all along the way I know that was my goal...but somewhere between intent and action the meaning became confused.  

Somewhere along the way I (and I dare say I'm not alone) took that to mean I had to have it all together.  That I had to appear 'struggle-less' (since I'm the one with the blog I can make up words) and that if anywhere along the line I even hinted like things weren't perfect I risked being called a fraud.  I'm called to set the example...but instead I built a wall and put on a mask.  

I assure you, never for one second has my faith been a fraud, a sham or a cover-up.  My Jesus has always been my everything, never was my faith anything but genuine; and I in no way mean to imply that your faith is not real.  However, my smiles, my laughs, the "I'm good" responses, there were times those were my attempt to 'set the example'.  Somewhere I lost the ability to be real.  To be authentic.  To let others know that I was struggling.  

So here's my thought...what if all Christians everywhere decided to let down our guard?  To be authentic.  Let others know we struggle.  Now, I'm not advocating that you lose your temper and have absolutely no self-control; but let your guard down.  Life happens.  Loved-ones get sick, families divorce, kids rebel, friends betray, words hurt, spouses cheat, parents abandon and husbands become alcoholics.  It's okay to hurt; and it's even okay to be mad (for real!).  Instead of focusing all of our energy on making sure we appear to have it all together, let's let the Church be The Church and help us carry our burdens (Galatians 6:2).  We all have battles; and in pretending that we don't, we run the risk of ostracizing those who are fighting very real and very visible battles.  

I can't lie...it's scary, and without the Holy Spirit it would have been impossible for me.  However, I assure you, it's worth it.  Let's drop the facade and be true...no more Sunday Morning masks.   So set the example, let the world (and the Church!) see you and Christ fight your battles together.

"we have conducted ourselves...with integrity and godly sincerity. We have done so, relying not on worldly wisdom but on God’s grace." (2 Cor. 1:12 emphasis mine)