Would you consider yourself vulnerable?
Not me! If I’m honest, I hate being vulnerable. Wait.. was that vulnerability?! Then I take it back.
Here’s how I would define vulnerability. Opening myself to the possibility of love or rejection. It’s about taking risks to be deeply known and being okay with the response.
I tend to be vulnerable when I think it’s going to help someone else. But if it’s for my benefit, I usually run the other way.
But think about this—to be human is to be vulnerable. This is something we are. Why do we wear clothes, live in houses, tell our kids to be careful? Because
“The question, then, is not if we are or will be vulnerable but rather how and when we enter into it consciously and intentionally for the sake of creating a world of goodness and beauty.”
Curt Thompson: Soul of Shame – Retelling the Stories We Believe About Ourselves
In other words, will we enter into vulnerability for our kids, our marriage, our future? For all things good and beautiful? To truly know God?
I think most of us would say yes. But how?
Intentional Vulnerability
I believe Hebrews 12:1-3 gives us the how and why.
It begins with a “great cloud of witnesses”. Who are these people?
It takes a “great cloud of witnesses” to hear our stories with empathy and echo the heart of the Father. We need people in our lives to remind us of who we are, to hear our shame story and reflect redemption’s story.
This is
Both terms mean to intentionally seek out our darkest shame and reveal it in the context of community.
In other words, we must turn into relationships when everything in us says to run. We must be vulnerable when everything in us says to shut down.
This is so hard for me. It would seem that if I reveal my darkest shame I would experience more shame. But the opposite happens. I find freedom and healing. And yet I resist.
As Hebrews 12:1 plainly says, when we let go of the old shame story we will be able to run life’s race, but it will take great endurance and persistence.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t have lots of endurance and persistence. My willpower tends to drain rather quickly.
Thankfully Hebrews 12 doesn’t end there but continues with the why.
“Fixing our eyes on Jesus, who is the Author and Perfecter of faith [the first incentive for our belief and the One who brings our faith to maturity], who for the joy [of accomplishing the goal] set before Him endured the cross,disregarding the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God [revealing His deity, His authority, and the completion of His work].”
Jesus Conquered Shame
It’s only when I fix my eyes on Jesus (who already
I’ve come to learn it’s by hearing what Jesus heard and doing what Jesus did. It’s about redirecting our attention again and again to the voice of the Father and living out of that truth by the power of the Holy Spirit.
What did Jesus hear? For example, what did Jesus hear at His baptism? (Matthew 3:17)
- I love you
- You are my son
- I am well pleased with you
What do we need to hear?
- I love you as you are not as you should be
- You are my son/daughter
- I am well pleased with you
- My greatest delight is in you
When I know this at heart level and when I’m reminded of these truths from my community, there is grace to disregard shame. There
And guess what? By intentionally being vulnerable we embrace Redemption at deeper levels for ourselves. It’s a double bonus.
Vulnerability is the key to disregarding shame and embracing redemption.
A Few Thoughts on Embracing Redemption…
Embracing Redemption isn’t about warm fuzzies. It’s a literal rewrite of our story. One that requires the hard work of letting go, and allowing God to
For too long, shame has told us that we are not enough or there is something wrong with us. But Jesus, through His person and by His work, is enough. Therefore, so are we.
If John 4:1 tells us that “as Jesus is, so are we”, then we have no obligation to the old shame story any longer. There is grace to walk in our redemptive story.
Embracing redemption isn’t
This is something I continue to wrestle with. Isn’t their right answers? Especially when it comes to the Bible?
The short answer is yes. But when we only approach the Bible as a book of right and wrong, we miss out on a relationship. Jesus blasted the Pharisees for doing this very thing (John 5:39).
Nobody wants to hang out with someone who only points out what’s right or wrong. Especially in our own lives. My kids don’t want to hang out with me if all I’m doing is correcting and directing. They want my heart, and I want theirs. They want
Embracing redemption isn’t about trying harder to do better. It’s about opening ourselves to Jesus to be fully known and fully loved. It’s about vulnerability.
Jesus entered this world as vulnerable as it gets—a baby. Jesus left this world as vulnerable as it gets—naked on a cross. He knows what it means to be vulnerable. He knows exactly what’s it’s like to be us. He gets it.
Not only that but He is in pursuit of our hearts at all times. He wants to be with us and is in fact with us always (Matthew 28:20). It’s what the name Immanuel means—God with us. (Matthew 1:23)
Not only that but He solved the sin and shame problem once and for all by dying on the cross and rising again. Romans 5:8 says while we were still sinners before we even cared about any of this, Jesus died for us. We didn’t do anything, but He did everything.
Would we open ourselves to this kind of God? To be fully known? To be fully loved? To be vulnerable? Both with Him and our community? My answer is yes.
What about you?
By opening ourselves up to Jesus (vulnerability) we come to know the healing of our shame (redemption).
Challenge: Find someone you trust and share your story. Reveal your shame and experience the power of grace.