Holy, Blameless, and Free

The movie "V for Vendetta" pretty much sucked. But there was one concept that I can't get out of my head. Natalie Portman's character is held in prison and gets to this place where she no longer fears death. She emerges from prison with a newfound freedom that changes the way she lives.

I am more afraid of social death than physical death. My friend Bob who I meet with every Monday night said he doesn't like using "Satan" or "the Devil" or whatever. He likes to say "the accuser" - the voice in our head that tells us we're not good enough and that we have something to hide. The biggest lie in my head is that if people knew the real me then they would not accept me.

So what happens when we hide our weaknesses? In part, we also hide God's grace. My sins are covered by Jesus on the cross. I don't have to keep paying for them with shame and deceipt. I've got to own up to God's mercy in my life. A free Christian glorfies God by pointing to the power of the cross over sin. So on that note, I just want to say the following:

In the last month I have spent more time looking at porn than reading the Bible - and Jesus loves me anyway.

There, that feels good. The thing is, I'm not the only one. I read statistics and I talk to people. There are a lot of people like me in the church. When we hide our weaknesses we deprive our friends from the support of knowing people on the same path. We rob the body of Christ of our stories of struggle, mercy, and victory. We neuter the Gospel and create a culture of shame and fear.

We need to learn to see ourselves and our friends the way God sees us - holy and blameless through Christ's blood and the forgiveness of sins. We need to learn to live that way.