HOT - A call to be Vulnerable Part 2 : Openness

Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices Colossians 3:9

Have you ever heard when persons say that the work version of them is different from the home version of them and that's different from the church them? If you have, do you wonder to yourself "How can they keep up with so many different versions of themselves?"

Well as I’ve gotten older, I realize that for some persons there is the 'Christian' version of them and the 'regular version of them'. It's not that we always intend to do it, sometimes but in order to protect our hearts in order to never let people have the opportunity to see the real and very big picture we section off.

I believe that this Christian side can present in different ways however I am only going to focus on the side that we are so often are guilty of. The Perfect Christian. The side where they are never hurt, never disappointed, never sad, never struggling, never anything really apart from doing well or "ok" and “can’t understand” why others have such a difficult time.

Now this by no means is what Jesus intended or exampled but I want us to be able to spend some time, so we can ask ourselves some really hard questions.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 2 Corinthians 5:17

When we come into relationship with Christ, he says that we are new and that we are to give up the old ways. Now for some of us its easy because we never really formed bad habits or we are blessed by the Lord to shed the ones we formed quickly, however for some of us it's hard. It is said that a habit takes 21 days to form and the same amount of time to get rid of but for some persons it takes much longer, especially when the havbit has been in active for years.

Sometimes the expectations that people have of us when we become Christians can make us feel like we are suffocating. Sometimes the need to feel like we are doing it right can make us want to have a particular image. But Jesus didn’t hold back at any point in his life. He was a savage when he needed (Matthew 21:12-17), He was heartbroken when he needed to be (Isaiah 53:5) and he experienced and lived just like the rest of us.

Recently, I’ve felt like I’ve ended up putting back on my mask in order to not let my emotions show. How many of us play the good Christian, never sinning never struggling, just perfect? The Greek word dianoigó means to open completely. The idea of opening up can be very daunting. Opening up to someone completely. Now to be totally clear I’m not saying to just go and tell everyone everything going in your life. The bible speaks about wisdom but I believe sometimes we take the idea of Guarding your heart (Prov4:23) out of context.

When you have a guard, their role is assigned to protect or oversee another or something. To guard is to protect or to defend that is not to say that nothing goes in or nothing goes out because the rest of the verse says everything you do comes out of it but rather be wise and discerning in our lives. We must grow to allow discernment to dictate what and in what season and at what time.

The best way for us to continue on in this journey is to have a community to walk through the valley with, because it wont always be mountain top experiences. As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another. We have to be willing to show our scars to others in the faith, be willing to find a confidante to share a struggle and be willing to reveal the struggles that resulted in triumph to let persons know they are not alone.

Being open means letting persons know that just like them you have parts you wish you could hide but know that it is not helpful to you or the community. We often want to put up this façade, that we are the perfect Christians at church every day, praying often reading religiously when for some of us we are not even sure where our physical bible is because “using” the bible app is so convenient.

God is asking us to

Be Humble and acknowledge that we are human with the same struggles and same flaws.

Be willing to be open and vulnerable. To share the parts of yourself you would want to keep hidden in order to be healed and restored.

God told me once while I was at university that I should allow myself to be broken and that was the hardest thing he could ever ask me to be open to letting persons in, which means being able to be hurt; but then he reminded me that when I am hurt I can carry them to him.

Do you want to be the prized possession that is behind a glass case never allowed to be touched or even appreciated with a graceful hand of understanding?

Do you want to be the great actor that has the world's best smile on their face but was just heartbroken on the floor crying wanting someone to say its going to be okay?

Be Wise. Be discerning. Remember his heart is always after you and allow him to decide who should have the clearance to access the treasure of your living testimony.