‘Honesty, self-awareness, and nakedness’
Posted by Brad at 7:47am Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Patton Dodd writes a refreshingly honest and profound column about the power of lamentations.
For many years, I believed it was foolish and faithless to acknowledge all that is wrong with my life. I believed I was a new creation, and admitting anything less was not acceptable. I missed seeing a lot that was wrong with my community, my family, and myself because I thought the Christian thing to do was to emphasize the positive, glory be to God.
But Jesus came for the sick, not the healthy–by which he surely meant that he came for those who know they are sick, and not those who, being sick, nonetheless claim they are healthy.
Since I took up the habit of lamenting, my life has not improved, at least not directly. But life improvement isn’t the goal. The goal is faithfulness and servanthood–becoming like the image of God in Christ. I’ve come to believe meeting that goal involves severe honesty, self-awareness, and nakedness. There is power in honesty, because it removes any hint of deception, and puts us before our God as we really are.
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For more context, read the full article here.
On Nov 25, 2008, Karla said:
What an excellent article. I remember struggling for years with the issue of trying to stay positive and upbeat and claiming I had it all together in my life because that was what faith was supposed to look like, wasn’t it? What a refreshing turn of events when I discovered that God is able to hear my lamentations and still love me. I am now an open book, whether it’s the wonderful things I see God doing in me, or the awful truths about my weaknesses that still need to be surrendered over and over and over again. I have found a tremendous amount of peace and feel I’ve grown spiritually since I’ve stopped faking it with God and just allowed it all to be laid bare before Him, and the world around me.
And after all, who is it in the Bible we relate to most as humans, for the most part? It’s David in his weaknesses, through the Psalms, and Ezekiel in his Lamentations that reminds us, we’re not in this alone.
What a wonderful reminder that God is able.