Do you wonder what a transparent façade is? My husband says that is an oxymoron! And, indeed, it is an oxymoron if we are talking about the decorative front of a building. Some are beautiful to the eye -- such as the façade of a cathedral, a castle or the Taj Mahal.
Some of the handiwork of mankind is amazing. But I want to talk about a different kind of façade. That is, the false front that we put about ourselves when we try and make ourselves appear to be something that we are not. It could be something as simple as a pasted-on-smile when our inner person is angry, sad or afraid. We all put on a façade when we go for a job interview. We call that putting our best foot forward and that works until the interviewer asks us something like, "tell me your strongest qualities and your weakest areas." Whoops! If we are going to be honest, the façade has to come down.
We don't need to be going around and talking about all of our own faults or airing our dirty laundry with others. Some things are best kept privately between us and another person or with God alone. That is because we may have sin or temptation that would harm others if we talk about them. I remember a preacher named Harold Vaughn who said we should never cleanse our own conscience with the tears of another. For example, it is wrong to bring up something from the past to someone who would only be hurt by that knowledge.
Yet, God has told us to confess our sins to one another. He has told us to pray for one another. And we need to do that. It is good for our spiritual health. But it can be unpleasant. Let me tell you a story from the years of my young motherhood. Once a group of women was meeting in a home for prayer and Bible study. I had been struggling with feelings of jealousy toward a member of our family and I knew in my heart this was sin. So I confessed this to our group and asked for prayer. One of the older women said to me, "Why, Brenda! Christians don't get jealous." That hit me hard and discouraged me. For a minute or two I questioned my relationship with the Lord, but realized that I was His child, I had sinned, I wanted forgiveness, I wanted healing, and I expressed that to the group. The same lady said, "that is not being jealous. That is feeling badly." A person could call it feeling bad but in my heart it was jealousy and it was sin.
What are we to do when we have thoughts, feelings, and behaviors that are not glorifying to God? First of all, we will know the conviction of the Holy Spirit. We will know that we have sinned. We are called to repent and we ought to do so immediately. God's wonderful promise in I John 1:9 is that when we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive ... and to cleanse!
When we throw up a façade and pretend that we are righteous in our own self effort, we are being hypocrites. By doing so, we may fool people around us but don't forget: our facades are transparent to God. He knows our hearts, our actions, our intentions. He is always ready to forgive and to help us live as the people He created us to be. What a blessing!
I love Psalm 139 and the fact that He knows everything about me. He is LOVE and He offers His mercy and grace in all our joys and trials. Take comfort in these words and realize our Lord is not standing by waiting to beat us up when we falter -- when we sin:
"O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
you discern my thoughts from afar.
3 You search out my path and my lying down
and are acquainted with all my ways.
4 Even before a word is on my tongue,
behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
5 You hem me in, behind and before,
and lay your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high; I cannot attain it. . . .
23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!"
It's time to tear down my facades. They are transparent to God!
Gregory DuBois Nice one Brenda. Sounds like your old friend in the story actually tried to hand you a facade! She may as well have said, "If you get honest that challenges me to be honest about my sin. Here put this on you'll feel better." That's what Adam and Eve thought about the fig leaf!
ReplyDelete