Transparency

As I read the very first chapter it struck me, Nehemiah was pretty transparent with the King.

After Nehemiah weep over the condition of the walls, the king saw something was wrong. Rather than feeling the need to defend his people and the reputation of his God Nehemiah told the king how bad it was even though it was a shameful thing.

Assuming King Artaxerxes was not a believer in Yahweh it struck me how often do we pretend nothing is wrong in our lives in front of our non-believing friends?

In the book UnChristian points out that the unbelieving world looks at Christians as a self-righteous group (very unattractive to them). Is this in part because we tend not to let them see the crumbled state of our personal walls? (The funny thing is if our non-believing friends know us on a deeper level they likely know our shortcomings without them telling us.)

What would happen if we like Nehemiah became vulnerable in front of people who don't know Christ? Would it be easier for us to point them to the true meaning of the Gospel...God's unbelievable grace?

What would happen if I even accepted help from my non-believing friends? Could they be used by God to rebuild my walls and end up building a deeper relationship with them?

So often I feel the pressure to "have it all together" especially in front of those who don't know Christ...but is that really the message of the Gospel?

Maybe God could use my broken walls to reach out to someone who doesn't know Him. Maybe my broken walls will have a stronger witness of God's amazing grace on which we all depend on each moment of our lives.

Come to think of it I really can't defend God's reputation when I hide my broken walls. My story is really about God's grace and my broken walls point to that every day.

Oh but to be vulnerable.....

Contributed by Lee Geysbeek