Authentically Raw
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· 13 viewsA lot of Christians get very worked-up about the optics of their ministry. They want to ensure they're helping the right people, showing up at the right events, and putting the correct polish on their ceremonies. Sometimes, in an attempt to stand up for what is seen as "righteous", they lose an element of genuineness that can be beautiful in its raw form. When we look at individuals who allowed themselves to be "outed" in a raw manner before Christ, we find God blessing them far more than those who sought to observe the correct protocols or optics. The question for you is... when is the last time you were truly "raw" with your faith?
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Transcript
Not Always Pretty
Not Always Pretty
I am not a charismatic Christian, but I think all believers need to have genuine and raw experiences with God.
Reveal your heart, confront your fears and insecurities, allow God to truly be God… YOUR GOD.
What some see as great humility, you can also see as a genuine expression of how raw someone is Matthew 26:6-15
6 While Jesus was in Bethany at the house of Simon the leper, 7 a woman approached him with an alabaster jar of very expensive perfume. She poured it on his head as he was reclining at the table. 8 When the disciples saw it, they were indignant. “Why this waste?” they asked. 9 “This might have been sold for a great deal and given to the poor.” 10 Aware of this, Jesus said to them, “Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a noble thing for me. 11 You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me. 12 By pouring this perfume on my body, she has prepared me for burial. 13 Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her.” 14 Then one of the Twelve, the man called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests 15 and said, “What are you willing to give me if I hand him over to you?” So they weighed out thirty pieces of silver for him.
Observations...
Woman: comes to pay homage to Christ
Disciples: selfishness masquerading as piety (“We could have helped the poor!”)
Christianity today… very obsessed with optics
“We have to present God our very best!”
“Think of how many can be saved through our work!”
“It’s so much easier to attract more people for Christ if we’re polished!”
… all focus on what we think God wants instead of what God has presented us...
The reject no one will appreciate us showing compassion.
The individual suffering in silence that no one will know we helped.
The sinner whom the rest of Christianity has given up on but we could help show reconciliation.
The account of the woman anointing Jesus challenges what is truly most important to us… Loving God or Loving People? Jesus tells us clearly in Mark 12:28-31 …
28 One of the scribes approached. When he heard them debating and saw that Jesus answered them well, he asked him, “Which command is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is Listen, Israel! The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. 31 The second is, Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other command greater than these.”
Our love for God mustn’t be overcome by anything… not even our own limited concepts of charity and piety.
REVISIT THE WOMAN: The woman’s genuine nature isn’t only seen through her actions… it’s written on the tears rolling down her face. Read John’s account John 12:1-3
1 Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany where Lazarus was, the one Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there; Martha was serving them, and Lazarus was one of those reclining at the table with him. 3 Then Mary took a pound of perfume, pure and expensive nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped his feet with her hair. So the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
Not a picture of dignity...
Washing feet… the lowest of the low
Letting her hair down… horribly inappropriate in public
Using expensive oils and perfumes on Jesus… wasteful!
Mary’s humility was RAW.
Being Raw is All You Have to Offer
Being Raw is All You Have to Offer
[Kelly Ehlrich] has always said she appreciates when I get passionate about the Word. I am happy she appreciates passion because I am not a righteous individual.
… I can be quick to anger.
… I am weak in the face of temptation.
… I struggle with insecurities regarding my calling.
… I regularly struggle knowing that I can never be the ‘good person’ I feel I am called to be.
The one thing I can be… is raw in the face of my savior, throwing myself at His merciful feet.
I find myself in the same predicament as Paul...
15 For I do not understand what I am doing, because I do not practice what I want to do, but I do what I hate.
21 So I discover this law: When I want to do what is good, evil is present with me. 22 For in my inner self I delight in God’s law, 23 but I see a different law in the parts of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and taking me prisoner to the law of sin in the parts of my body. 24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? 25 Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with my mind I myself am serving the law of God, but with my flesh, the law of sin.
Sometimes we need to spend time crying out: “What a wretched man I am!”
How can I live up to the standard set for me?
How can I claim to love God yet be so ensnared by my fleshly flaws?
Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! <— Your salvation wasn’t about you and neither shall you be condemned Romans 8:1-2
1 Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus, 2 because the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death.
You can offer nothing to God that will vindicate your sinful heart; that is why Jesus came down.
You are saved through Grace, bought by the blood of the Savior.
—> THIS IS THE GOOD NEWS WE PROFESS. <—
Who is the most overlooked person to profess the Good News to? —> Sometimes yourself.
Regardless of who you are or where you are in your spiritual walk, when was the last time you allowed yourself to be RAW in your expression of faith?
There is no use in trying to erect barriers between you and God because He already knows it all.
Permit yourself to be replenished by the Grace of Christ, being authentic with those around you whom God may use to help replenish you and being authentic with yourself so you are prepared to let go of your chains and let God’s truth in.
