Be More Vulnerable
The second meditation on overcoming obstacles has to do with vulnerability. This one isn’t based off of a Bible verse, but instead sparked from a recent conversation. Someone asked me what I thought a local GLBT&Friends group could do to spread equality on their campus. We talked about a lot of different approaches- but the biggest point, the one that haunted me for the next few days, was that one has to risk being hurt.
You don’t fight a battle, even a spiritual one, without risk of damage.
And the kinds of battles so many of us find ourselves in- battles for hearts and minds- require demonstrations of one’s own heart and faith. And you can’t lay bare your heart before someone else without risking pain. If I want to share the depth and wonder of my faith, it means letting people into my past. It means telling stories that are embarrassing, painful, sometimes nothing short of humiliating. If I want people to understand why I believe in God, I have to tell them how God has worked in my life. If I want to tell them how God has worked in my life, it means exposing a point of weakness. If I have to expose a point of weakness…
True Evangelism does not come from a place of strength, but instead from a place of vulnerability. It entices people and draws them in. It is not exhibitionism or flagrancy- it is shy and tender, it is done with love and knowledge of our own fallibility. One of the greatest impediments to overcoming obstacles is not our weakness- as God makes us sufficient- but misplaced pride.
The need for vulnerability is especially noticeable with Christian homosexuals. Explaining how they feel their sexuality doesn’t bar them from faith means exposing the wholeness of their being. This is something that can be incredibly painful to do, as many people attempt this kind of honesty only to be attacked intimately as a result of it.
But yet vulnerability is still required.
Jeremiah 23:9
Concerning the prophets:
My heart is broken within me;
all my bones tremble.
I am like a drunken man,
like a man overcome by wine,
because of the LORD
and his holy words.
altonwoods replied:
Fantastic blog! I’m so a believer in the idea of “but for the grace of God, there go I” or the reality of “I once was lost,but now am found” Years ago in group therapy I was fascinated by the power of vulnerability to change the dynamic of individuals or groups. It shows other people that you’ve laid it out there for all to see and you not just merely survived but that you were actually “enlightened” by it…Healed by it! It’s a victory for love,and a defeat of the self,and that is SO good!
March 30, 2009 at 6:15 pm. Permalink.
faemom replied:
wow. I’m going to have to think about that for a while. I don’t like feeling vulnerable.
March 31, 2009 at 9:25 pm. Permalink.