On Stories and Steps

Why are we so overwhelmed by the thought of sharing our testimony of the Lord’s faithfulness in our lives? We talk about sports and shopping and how busy we are all day long, but run from "this is really hard" or "here's my mess" kind of conversations.  We preach vulnerability and openness to our friends, but when the time comes to step into the reality of our brokenness, we tuck our tails like dogs and run for the hills.

I think at Samford we have this idea of what vulnerability should look like: mention struggles academically in passing, vaguely reference past sin as something we have overcome, leave out parts of our story that aren’t “necessary”, but include the ones we think will sink deep. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve done this, convinced it would grow my friendships and deepen my faith on some level. But friends, hear me when I say, shallow stories make for shallow friendships and weak faith. After all, what good is faith unless it is lived out? Faith led Jesus to the cross, but resulted in the greatest gift we could ever receive. Can we, with Paul, confirm that “all is loss compared to knowing Christ and being found in Him?”

I get it. “It’s a lot.” “It’s messy.” “It’s pain-filled and weighty and I’m not sure you’re ready to hear.” And we don’t understand how to handle it. But GREATER STILL, we do know one who does. We claim that He is good. We claim that He has forgiven us and believe in the freedom that comes with that. So WHY do we keep running from honesty with people who are just as broken as we are? Why do we think they will reject us or that rejection holds ANY weight in light of the cross? Isn’t that the most beautiful picture of the gospel? Our brokenness makes room for the Lord’s fullness. Our faith sets a course for action.

Now side note: The people in my life who know me deeply are not always able to love me in the ways I desire to feel loved. They are not always as affirming as I would like. Sometimes they don’t know how to respond when I hit them with heavy truth. And on many occasions, honesty feels awkward and I want to run away as I talk. But I think the important thing is that we’re diving into our mess together, opening up and allowing the awkward silences to be shared, the insecurities to be felt fully, the possibility of rejection to increase as we sink lower into vulnerability with one another. Because there we gain a clear understanding of the Lord’s grace. We can claim with Paul that, “where sin is great, His grace is more.” We recognize that we are wired for struggle and boy do we. But WE ARE NOT ALONE. We’re all in this together. And our stories are meant to draw us closer to Christ Jesus Himself. That’s why the ghosts have to come out from hiding and the masks need to be taken off. We must recognize that the person writing this is just as broken as the one reading and the Lord’s grace covers us all.

Until that point, our faith is just words and fear, pride, control, and security remain our masters. We will continue to live in false assurance that if we “fake it ‘til we make it”, it will all work out in the end. And this is exactly the trap that Satan has set.

Friends, as I write this, I am speaking to myself as much as I am to you. Don’t let the Devil win. Allow the Lord to show up where your faith meets your fear and press into it. Embrace the awkward of vulnerability because you are DOING something, not just preaching about it. Praise the Lord that the thing you are most fearful of telling someone can be the thing the Lord is waiting to have full control of in your life. Surrender your desire to feel safe because we’re never promised safety. “In this world, you will have trouble, but take heart, He has have overcome the world.” Find people to share your story with. Jesus had a story worth sharing and so do you.

Dead to Sin, Alive in Christ

1What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? 3Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

5For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we will certainly also be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with,^a that we should no longer be slaves to sin— 7because anyone who has died has been set free from sin.

8Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.

11In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. 13Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 14For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Slaves to Righteousness

15What then? Shall we sin because we are not under the law but under grace? By no means! 16Don’t you know that when you offer yourselves to someone as obedient slaves, you are slaves of the one you obey—whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness? 17But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you have come to obey from your heart the pattern of teaching that has now claimed your allegiance. 18You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

19I am using an example from everyday life because of your human limitations. Just as you used to offer yourselves as slaves to impurity and to ever-increasing wickedness, so now offer yourselves as slaves to righteousness leading to holiness. 20When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. 21What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! 22But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 23For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in^b Christ Jesus our Lord.