Naked for Jesus

Awhile back, a friend made an interesting comment about Jesus. We were talking about our respective fears of “putting ourselves out there” into the world. For her, she is starting a new business that requires her to publicize herself and her products in order to make a sale. For me, I am writing these posts and being vulnerable in my own spiritual struggles in an effort to encourage others who are in a similar situation. Both of us feel naked.

Like Christ was on the cross.

However, we are not handling our egos with nearly the boldness, humility, or grace that He did.

“How did He do it?” My friend wondered. “How did He find the courage to let Himself be fully seen, in all His vulnerability, completely stripped of everything that could protect Him?”

And then,

“How can I be more like that?”

Of course, we know the answer – all of Jesus’ strength, courage, and identity lay 100% in His trust in His heavenly father. He did not fear the jeers and rejections because He knew that His image was secure in God’s eyes. He did not lash out in anger because He knew that His job was to do God’s will. He did not hide in the shadows, avoiding the cross, because He knew that His death would mean salvation for the world.

He was confident in His purpose.

He was sure of God’s will for His life.

He knew His identity and self-worth were grounded in His being the very image of God.

Easy for Him, I think.

Most of us fear stepping out in faith because, honestly? We’re not really sure if whatever we’re doing REALLY IS God’s will for our life. We may use language like, “I believe God is calling me to…” or “I just know that this is what God created me to do…” but usually there is that little voice in the back of our minds that whispers, “what if you’re wrong?”

When we don’t feel 100% sure that we’re doing the right thing, it can be insanely hard to thrust ourselves into the spotlight. It can feel stupid to spend hours working on a business/book/art/project that never comes to anything. It can be embarrassing to declare to the world, “this is who I am!” and then a few weeks or months or years later, have to admit, “actually, I really wasn’t that…” How many people do you know who have boldly and dramatically stated, “I’m quitting Facebook, so send me your email or number so we can keep in touch…” and then a week or so later are back posting like nothing ever happened (*raising my hand*).

It takes massive amounts of courage to allow our dreams and desires and ambitions and hopes to spill from our hearts out our mouths onto paper or out into the world. You have to be incredibly brave to stand up and let yourself be fully seen, naked and vulnerable before the world, unafraid and unashamed to say “this is who I am.”

Like Christ.

Scripture tries to clue us in…

“But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son…” Galatians 4:4

“…all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.” Psalm 139:16

“And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment…” Hebrews 9:27

When the fullness of time came – the perfect time – God sent Christ. And, when the time was right, He sent you! Your being here is NO coincidence!! You are NOT an accident! God ordained your life for this time in history. Your mere existence is a miracle! There is something special for you to do in the world right now.

And, in Hebrews, it’s made clear that we only have ONE life.

Jesus knew that this was His chance, His moment to save the world.

And this life is YOUR chance to do something great: raise awesome kids; write a book; bring joy to others; run for President (please); declare yourself an artist! declare yourself a businesswoman! and then the next day declare yourself a life coach! who cares?!?!? This is YOUR LIFE! Your one life!! LIVE IT.

You have permission to be ALL that you are, to be EVERYTHING that you are. God didn’t make us one-faceted. There is so much more to each of us than that one title or one identity we choose to show the world.

When you feel the most naked and vulnerable, and are allowing yourself to be fully seen, tap into your God-given truth that you are here for a purpose, and your identity is secure in Christ. You have one life to live and God orchestrated your birth, your existence, for this exact moment in time.

Just as we hold our breath when a toddler stands on his own, waiting for him to take that first wobbly step, and then burst into applause and cheering when he stumbles forward, I have to believe that God is up there lovingly watching us falter through this crazy life, cheering each time we take a clumsy step forward along the path He has laid out for us.

We spend SO MUCH TIME worrying about what everyone else will think of us. Yet when someone steps out in a big way, my first thought is always, “I wish I could be more like that.”

There are people like me waiting for people like YOU to step up and step out and be brave so I can find the courage to do the same.

Christ died for us so that we might have LIFE and LIFE ABUNDANT.

Are you living in fear of what others will think of your dreams/hopes/ambitions? How have you stepped out in faith recently?