dropping the masks that we wear

   

Last week a woman had visited my retail store (Soundsational Car Audio) to purchase a stereo for her son’s car. While having her son’s car worked on--she started opening up with me about her life.  While talking, somehow we got onto the topic of Christianity (although I'm sure anybody that knows me wouldn't be surprised by that).  After talking for a while she told me that she had been a long time member of a large church in the area but that she had recently stopped attending. Although she had been a very active member of her women's bible study group for over 10 years, she confided in me that she just couldn't play the game any longer.  She said “if the women in my bible study knew how I really felt or how much of a mess my life was, they would be shocked."  I was saddened by the fact that this woman had been attending this bible study for years yet never felt comfortable opening up with anyone about what was going on in her life.  I then went on and assured her that if she knew what was really going on behind the scenes in many of those women's lives she would also be surprised.

      Why do we hide behind masks in the Church?  The Church should be the one place where it’s safe to be yourself.  Yet instead of being "real", we work hard to project an image of “having it all together” when many times we are simply broken people who have learned to hide our brokenness.  Often times we don't live "authentically" because we are afraid of being judged.  Honestly, around many church folk that's a very real concern.  My personal experience however has shown me that the people that react the most negatively to those of us who try to be transparent--are the people that are working the hardest at keeping their own masks in place.  The problem about hiding who we are inside is the fact that God already knows who we are. He created us and although he knows every flaw that we have--He still loves us dearly. God knows us and loves us profoundly.  He doesn’t want us hiding behind a façade  but instead wants us to take our pain, doubts, fears and weaknesses and lay those things down at his feet. It's God's desire that we would allow his love to transform us from the inside out--not that we simply become religious and look the part.  Change and growth can only occur when we are honest with ourselves.  Isn’t it interesting that the people that were truly honest about their own weakness and failure were the ones that Jesus was attracted to. One of my favorite Bible stories was in Luke 18:9-14, “To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’ “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ “I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”       

    The best way to stop wearing the mask is to start being authentic with who you are.  When "Christ followers" start being transparent about their pain and weakness while they are in the church, often times something amazing happens.  It gives those other believers around them permission to do the same.  When we start being authentic around non-believers it allows them to not only see that you don't have to be perfect to be a Christian--it also allows them to see the difference that God's presence makes in our lives as he walks us through the hard times.  I'll be intentional right now and I'll start by being transparent about myself.  My life is a mess.  I am broken, lonely and have very few answers.  But the God I serve loves to take broken lives and turn them into something beautiful.  I’m glad I have learned the secret of not hiding my weakness. I’m also grateful that I am part of a church that values being authentic and walking in transparency.  Remember, God does not require that you come to him perfect--He just asks you to come to him. 

Matthew 11:28 "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

2 Cor. 12:19, “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”

Looking at God through clear eyes.

    I had been contacted recently by friends that have been dealing with everything from the rejection of divorce or marital infidelity to loss of employment and home foreclosure.  I just want to encourage anyone going through hardship right now that your heavenly father is with you in your present situation and has good things planned for you in the future.  Even if you don’t “know” God, He knows you. He sees your adversity and earnestly desires for you to turn to him in your pain.  When we go through suffering sometimes it’s hard to see past the current trauma and understand that God has good things for us.  The reason behind this is often due to our heart believing lies about God that prevent us from accurately viewing his character.  God cares for you as his own dearly beloved child.  He is captivated with you and wants nothing but good things for you.  However we live in a fallen world among broken people (ourselves included) and sometimes pain and hardship is part of this journey.  
    A story that always troubled me in the Bible was the story of Job.  For those of you unfamiliar with Job, he was a very successful and righteous man who despite having almost everything in his life stripped away, still remained faithful to God.  He refused to blame God for his misfortune and refused to see God as anything other than a loving, righteous creator despite what was happening all around him.  I would always read that story and hope that I never had to face any of the hardship Job did.  You see, I didn’t always have a solid trust that God loved me.  I saw him as an angry but emotionally distant deity. And I firmly believed in my heart that God had much more important people to worry about than me.  In fact when things would get hard I not only failed to see God’s presence in my hardship—I would often believe that it was HE that was the cause of my pain.  The lies in my heart prevented me from clearly seeing the one who loved me more than anyone.  In the past if I would simply bounce a check at the bank--I would blame God for my NSF fees (lol). I have found while walking through some of the hardest things I have ever dealt with however, that God is always faithful and he is ever present with us especially in the painful times. He will never abandon you or turn his face away from you.  Remember, it’s God's intent to give you the desires of your heart.  But it’s his even bigger longing that you would understand his great love for you.  I have also found that although things might look dark at present—God has good things planned just around the corner.  One thing I never noticed before while reading the book of Job, was the ending of that story.  I always got stuck thinking about all the tragedy that Job went through.  In the ending of the story however is a short but powerful statement about Job that also applies to those of us "Christ followers" that are experiencing pain and loss in the present.  “The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part.” (Job 42:12). 

“As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.”  James 5:11

Being on fire for God - by Izzy Wignall

This one woman was frustrated that she wasn't on-fire for God like she used to be. She prayed and asked, "Jesus, why is the Scripture so boring right now? I used to love reading your Word. Why don't I desire to know You like I used to?"

Jesus replied through the Spirit, "Does a child whose diet consists of sugar and sweets desire good, healthy food?"

Media, entertainment, Netflix, movies, mai...nstream music, etc., are sugary-foods that can consume our spiritual diets. They're ok in small doses...but in large doses, they can kill off our excitement for pursuing Jesus.

Wondering why you don't have a passion for Jesus anymore? Maybe the 15 hours of exciting movies you're watching a week is killing off your spiritual hunger--the overload of cheap-thrills is preventing you from hearing Him.

Think the Word is boring? Maybe if you spent less time on Facebook and more time fellowshipping with Him through the Word, it would become energizing and life-giving again.

Think life is boring? Maybe if you stopped living 20 different lives through various video-game characters and MMO's, you'd see how exciting a life for Jesus really is.

Media is so mesmerizing. I can attest to that because it is one of my biggest struggles. I absolutely love film and video-games. I believe that filmmaking is an art form and watching/critiquing film is one one of my favorite hobbies.

In light of this, constant entertainment dulls me from hearing from the Holy Spirit. It makes the Bible boring and causes a pursuit for Christ strenuous and unexciting. Whenever I step back and stop watching movies and stop playing games, EVERY TIME, The Lord re-captures my heart with wonder. The Word comes to life, I can hear Him more clearly, and the "race" towards Christ becomes exhilarating again. It's almost like media can put you in a "trance." Once you break free from the spell, everything re-aligns in your spiritual life.

So, friends, my encouragement for you is to ask yourself this simple question:

How much sugar is in your diet?

‎#mythoughtstonight

Being a person of "purpose"

 

     I was having a great discussion the other night with a close friend of mine from Texas about my earnest desire to be a man of purpose.  With every fiber of my being I want to spend the rest of my life impacting the lives of the people around me in whatever capacity I’m able.  So many of us (me included) spent a majority of our lives pursuing comfort and security.  We worked so hard to establish our careers so that we can buy that large house, nice car (or two) and build a comfortable living for us and our families.  Then we work the rest of our lives to “maintain” what we have built—never stopping to realize that in a few short years a lot of what we invested our lives into will be forgotten and all the possessions we worked so hard for will wind up going to someone else.  This whole concept became very real to me years ago while working for a local law office.  I was contacted by a trust attorney in the Indianapolis area and on more than a few occasions his law firm hired me to help liquidate the belongings of someone that was deceased --on the behalf of their estate.  On one occasion in particular, I was retained to help a family liquidate all the remaining furniture and belonging left in their mother’s house so that they could sell the property.  I accepted the job prior to even visiting the property.  When I did eventually get to the house however—I was dumbstruck.  This house was huge and it almost looked like a museum with multiple glass displays cabinets containing collectibles throughout.  From Franklin Mint collectible plates and antique china dolls, to Lladro ceramics and Precious Moments figurines it was obvious that the deceased woman had devoted her life and passion to lovingly collecting and displaying all these beautiful pieces.  And yet, here I was on behalf of her family liquidating all of this woman’s prized possessions online.  At the final auction, as people were swooping in like ravenous vultures to get the best deal on the remaining furniture, it was kind of sad.  Although I didn’t know the deceased woman—I wondered how she would have felt to see the precious collection she worked a lifetime to accumulate-- being separated and sold to the highest bidder?  I had the exact same empty feeling in the pit of my stomach while liquidating the remains of our former business, Havilah’s boutique.  As I sold the last remaining articles from the store in an attempt to liquidate a portion of that massive business debt—it was hard seeing the contents of that business that we put so much time and effort in—being sold for pennies on the dollar.  
    It is times like that when we start to see life in perspective.  Life is short and so much of what we spend our energies pursuing is temporal.  I want to invest my life seeking things of eternal significance.  When all is said and done—nobody will remember how big our house was or how cool of a car we drove.  They won’t remember our impressive resume or how much we accomplished in our given career field.  What people will remember is how much we loved those around us.  Live a life of significance and purpose by loving your neighbor, it’s that easy.

Matthew 6:19-21 “Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust does corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust does corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”    

Brian's thought for the day

"Learning to step back and trust God with the most important people in our lives is one of the hardest tests any man (or woman) will ever face.  It is a critical part of growing in our relationship with Jesus, however.  God is both able and faithful to take care of those we cherish when we entrust them to his loving care."  - Brian