Transparency

For me, something happens in the life of a person when they come to Christ. There is a realization they are broken, away from God and unable to repair the relationship. In that moment, there is an honesty, a transparency, between the soiled and the sacred.

There is a moment when the realization of depravity is so profound and the sense of acceptance so great you don’t care who knows where you've come from or what you've done. In fact, you feel so free for the first time, you want everyone to know.

Like this clip of Delmar in Oh Brother Where Art Thou? you want everyone to know how much you have been forgiven.

But something happens to us along the way. The transparency that was so life giving at the beginning gets covered by status.

We’re clean and everyone around us looks clean too. Our story of cleanliness inspires others and elevates us. We feel valued, respected and important. It feels good and the thought of losing it begins to drive us. 

Basically, at some point, it becomes about me. So when we stumble, we hide it, protect the status and chip away at our freedom.

It’s a tragedy.

I’m sinful. I can be selfish, inauthentic, a bad husband, bad father, arrogant, condescending, critical, lie and wrestle with addiction. These are aspects of my character I hate, but have to admit are there… and his grace is sufficient.

If I hide that truth from you, I hide the grace of God. How arrogant is that?

If I care more about your opinion of me than I do about sharing God’s story of forgiveness, whatever my struggle, I rob myself of the freedom it brings and rob you of witnessing the goodness of God. 

Transparency is hard, risky and can cost you… it almost certainly will. 

What’s hard to understand is, the brokenness caused by it's absence is far more severe.