Thank God Someone Finally Said Something!

I just started a book called Starving Jesus by by Gross and Mahon and it's really good so far, and by so far I mean page 21. There has already been so much to think about, dream about, and chew on. Here's one quote in particular:

But sin-why can't we take sin head-on in the church? Why do we whisper about sin, creating layer after layer of shame for those struggling with it? Why are sinners running to self-help groups, reading books by doctors who have never seen a Bible, and logging hours with counselors who charge by the obsession?
Our leaders are doing everything they can to guide us into the good life by placating our sinful natures. We need some good old-fashioned butt kicking in the form of honest talk- and not just in the Wednesday night small group. We need it on Sunday mornings in the open, so the people- and there are many of us- enslaved to sin can get up and say, "Thank God someone finally said something!"

The last sentence is something that I'm so stoked to say I've been hearing these last few weeks. Back in February (or maybe March) our church did a financial series about when enough money is enough, and what you do with that money, how it affects you, how you deal with it. The series was called Enough, and if you click on that work you can listen to it online (it's very good) Then a few weeks ago a couple that was moved to action by that series went onstage and told their story and how God moved in their lives and they didn't just take a bold step, they took bold leaps and bounds to get their finances under control and move forward into a more stable future. You can watch the video of that day here, I highly highly recommend it.
Once Paul and Sonya told their story move then 20 families were spurned to act. They are taking steps today, right this minute to get a grip financially. So many people that I've talked to, or overheard talking have said that they were moved during the original series, but they were scared, or didn't think they could do it, or felt a lot of shame in admitting that as grown ups, a lot of them as parents responsible for the life of other human beings, they were failing to manage their money wisely. But when Paul and Sonya got up and said, yes, were felt that way, but we knew it had to change, the people watching felt that hope and they moved.

This isn't really even about finances. This is in general, about things that we all struggle with, things that we keep secret and hidden because they might disintegrate the facade we've so carefully built. This can be about finances yes, but it can also be about porn, lying, promiscuity, masturbation, sexuality, (ok, that was a lot of sex stuff all at once....) integrity, leading well, raising kids, anger, thoughtlessness, hypocrisy, drug or alcohol addiction, pridefulness, greed, and the list goes on and on. Sometimes it just takes one person, just one, to stand up and say that they're scared, that they feel that oppressive shame, but they also know that in the shadows of shame there isn't really any healing. Sometimes it takes someone to call someone else on the carpet. Please, I do not mean some random person. I mean someone that you know, that you love and that you know is struggling with something they keep secret, they keep hidden. Maybe you don't know what it is, but you see the cracks in the facade. Maybe all it takes is for you to sit with them and ask how they are doing, and for you to listen for the real answer, not just the obligatory "I'm fine".
Someone has to be brave enough to fall recklessly in love with loving, loving someone and partnering with them in their life, lifting them up and holding them and living out the heart of Jesus to them even when you don't agree with their choices. Someone has to go first. Jesus didn't agree with sin, but he also didn't feel the need to point it out to every single person he saw sinning....why should we?

Go first, today, tonight, tomorrow. Go love people irrationally and unrestrained.

The only thing keeping sin hidden and shameful accomplishes is assuring that the sinner stays afraid to speak out loud what it is that they are struggling with, they stay suffocated under the burden of thinking, "I got myself into this, I'll get myself out of it" or "I'll just take care of this myself and no one ever has to know I'm a failure in this area of my life".
The truth is, we're all failing at something. We all sin, we probably even did it today. We all have something we cover in darkness and shame. That doesn't make us alone in our failures, alone in our sin and our shame, that should tie us together, connect us in the need for a God that desires our redemption, our reconciliation, our salvation.

The only thing keeping sin hidden and shameful accomplishes is assuring that the sinner stays afraid to speak out loud what it is that they are struggling with, they stay suffocated under the burden of thinking, "I got myself into this, I'll get myself out of it" or "I'll just take care of this myself and no one ever has to know I'm a failure in this area of my life".
The truth is, we're all failing at something. We all sin, we probably even did it today. We all have something we cover in darkness and shame. That doesn't make us alone in our failures, alone in our sin and our shame, that should tie us together, connect us in the need for a God that desires our redemption, our reconciliation, our salvation.