Our Stories
Raw, Real, and Reconciled
By Aaron Soderlund | posted 02/21/2008
But the Lord God called to the man, "Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." (Genesis 3:9-10)
Earlier this week, Nathan was running around the house naked, laughing, smiling, and doing his best to stay away from the grasp of his parents. For some reason, he never seems to be happier than when he's completely naked. I however, am constantly concerned that he's going to 'stain' the carpet if we don't get him covered up quickly enough. But I said to Beth, "God must have created us to be naked."
When you think about it, Adam and Eve came into the world unclothed. It wasn't until that fruit incident that they felt they needed to be covered up. It was then that they felt shame and that they had something to hide. Jumping back to 2008, here is this little son of ours without an ounce of concern that he's running around flashing the neighborhood. It's not until we realize that we have something to hide that we start actually hiding ourselves. From our friends. Our family. Our spouse. God.
We create this persona that we have it all together. It seems men, in particular, seem to do this. I'm certainly guilty of it. Shame and embarrassment don't jive well with men. So rather than admit that things are tough, or that we feel like we're incompetent and failing, we'll play it off as if we've still got it mostly together. Part of this is cultural. But a lot of it is that as men, we have an innate need to be providers. To know we can be depended on. And there's nothing worse than when we, ourselves, don't think we can.
The people that seem to be admired the most, whether actual people or in books and movies, are the ones that are not afraid to be true to themselves. The more we are stripped down, or naked, the more people can relate to us and understand us. Because, realistically, they may be hiding the same thing. The more raw we all get together, the more real we can be with each other. And the more we'll understand each other and be able to truly be who God created us to be. I heard this week that when we intentionally expose our sin, our insecurities and our doubts to others, that it when God is able to use them. But when we keep them hidden, that is when Satan is able to use them.
Some things that I like to hide: I don't like to be alone. I'm not always in a good mood. I can't sit still. I worry about providing for my family. I sometimes wonder if I'm any good at my job. I do care about what people think about me. I don't wake up every Sunday excited to go to church. I wonder if I'll be a good enough husband and father. I am often concerned about myself over others. I question how good of a Christian I am when I'm not always 'as concerned as I should be' about missions and world hunger. I worry about my weight. I've even rooted for the Huskies before.
But Jesus never told us we needed to be perfect. And I don't think that God's only goal in Jesus' death was to cover our sins. He wants to make us into the people He originally created us to be in the first place - before the fruit incident and before the shame set in. And the only way to do that is to follow the way of Jesus. But we can't begin to be that person without shedding some of these clothes that we've been hiding behind for years. Nobody is claiming this is easy. But we have to strip down our layers. Expose ourselves to others. We don't have to flash the neighborhood as 'some people' like to do. But we do need to be willing to let each other see who we really are. And as people see our true selves, I think that God will be allowed to work, and be seen like we've never seen before. That, to me, is exciting. But I've got a lot of shedding to do.
To respond to this message, email Aaron at aaron@windermere.com.
