Honesty: A Place Where Everyone Is Truly Known by Someone.
Honesty:
A Place Where Everyone Is Truly Known by Someone.
One of the culture markers I want us to reach as a church is for RIC to be a place where, Everyone is truly known by someone.
So, today I want to talk honestly about HONESTY.
There are a handful of men that I can call any time day or night that I can share everything with. They know me...really know me. They aren't psychiatrics or counselors either. Guys in regular walks of life that I have a deep friendship with. We've offended each other plenty of times, but we've grown in grace with one another and I cannot thank God enough for those relationships.
15 Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, - Ephesians 4:15
In what may be the most specific description of how the church grows, honesty is found at the heart...literally. After Paul urges the believers to practice throwing off the "old self", he turns to putting on the "new self" and begins by saying, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor (v25). Although outright lying is included here, the sense has more to do with self-preservation.
One leadership tool I use encourages you to ask three questions...
What am I afraid of losing?
What am I trying to hide?
What am I trying to prove? To whom?
These questions are aimed at the heart and you may need someone who is near you to help you answer them honestly.
If Christ has shouldered and felt the blows of shame and guilt that our sins warrant and he forgives them all, we are to be people completely free. This is where confidence is truly found. We don't have to make ourselves look better, sound better, to be accepted by God. If his love is our greatest joy, then the acceptance of others should pale in comparison. More so, we should not be shocked, or judgmental when the obvious sin of others is seen. Instead, we who know the joy of being known, should move closer to that sinner, ready to extend all the grace that we have received, no matter how they might respond.
When do you practice self-preservation the most? Around whom? Why do you think you do that?
Who really knows you well? What makes that relationship 'safe'?
What honest thing could you do or say this week to grow deeper with someone in your church family?