'Sometimes we put up walls not to keep people out but to see who cares enough to knock them down.'
This Postsecret struck me this morning with the simplicity of its truth. How often do we do that, and are we even aware that we do? How often are we hurt when others, unaware that we have set up the wall, continue on with life completely oblivious to the pain we hide? Conversely, how many times have I let down the wall only to have someone walk away when they see what's behind it?
At our church for a while we had the phrase 'real, raw' attached to a description of our service. It was true at the time, and continues to be true today. (apparently the testimony given in yesterdays service bore witness to that as the word 'shit' was used abundantly) But I digress.
We talk about a 'new kind of church' as though we had cornered the market on what God wants for this generation. As though He has given us a new interpretation of the bible and what church should be all about. We see our ideas as new, real and fresh. We see ourselves as being more forgiving with the culture that we live in, more accepting of where others are in their lives. But when it all comes down to it aren't we the same as we always were? Do we see the hurt behind the wall of that woman or that man standing next to us?
In this world there are hurting, disillusioned people. They are searching to fill the deepest needs of their souls. They don't recognize that the need they have is for a saviour, a friend, and a community. As I go through my day I am reminded again and again of the loss that we all suffer in one way or another, and our responsibility as a 'church' (the people, not the building) to show them Christ. I come to the same truth over and over; that in order to find real healing for our wounds we must find a place or a person who accepts us no matter what we throw out at them. In order for Christ to get inside me, I must let down the wall in some way, with some person or in some place. To let Him get inside.
I have let that wall down with some. Mostly it hasn't been a good experience, and I've been hurt. The friend that says they will be there no matter what disappears from my life like the mist. 'Try me' they say, as even then they are starting to fade. As much as I try to not let it color what I do today, I have to be honest and say that it does.
So where does that leave us? If we can't let the wall down, do we learn to live with the weight of it? Where is it really safe?
4 comments:
I think, that in our humaness, we get wrapped up in what is behind our own walls, making nearly impossible to see what is beyond someones else's wall.
I am not capable of climbing those walls on my own. Only God can take me outside my own walls, to break beyond the barrier of someone else's wall, and then, in turn breaking down my walls from the outside in. We just have to let Him take us there.
i think its always a risk when we chose to let our walls down with someone. there are no guarantees that we won't be hurt yet again. but this thot comes to mind: "better to have love and lost than to have never loved at all".
i think its worth the risk.
Yea... I think the only safe place will be at home with Jesus. Until then, we risk. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
But like Susanna said, it's worth it.
In my experience, when I haven't been able to let the wall down God sends me someone who can. They are given the spiritual hammer and ever so slowly, without our realizing it they start to chip away at that wall. They help to tear the wall down into pieces so small that it would be too hard for us to put it back in that place. I think after a while the weight crushes it so fiercly that it will crumble. Safe in God's hands.
I hope that made some sort of sense. That is from my experience anyway. I guess everyone has their own way to describe it. I find that when I try to build that wall back up God sends a message my way to stop and listen. I feel the hands on my own gently urging me to push them away from the bricks.
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