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Exposure Brings Us Closer

Exposure brings us closer. Closer to God that is. And this isn’t something clever that I made up, it’s simply the truth. The Son of God Himself, you know, The Way, The Truth, The Life and The Light (John 1; John 14:6) says it to be so. In John 3:20-21 Jesus makes the following statement: “For everyone practicing evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But he who does the truth comes to the light, that his deeds may be clearly seen, that they have been done in God.”

Do you get it? The one who willingly practices evil actually does everything he can to avoid exposure. He chooses to keep his ill-behaviors as far away from the light as possible. This deliberate approach to life is the proof of his wickedness as well as the trap that will ensure he never escapes his wickedness. Though none of us are free from committing deeds of an evil nature due to our sinful flesh, we each have an option to be honest about our shortcomings. May the man described in verse 20 be a warning to us of the consequences of avoiding the light!

On the contrary, we have the man described in verse 21. The type of man who walks in the paths of truth. He is not perfect, nor does the verse say he is. He has certainly done his fair share of wrong. The difference is, in spite of his failures, he willingly brings his every action to light. The good and the bad. Though not every deed he has done has been godly, because he has made himself clearly and fully seen, he is given credit as having done all in God. He is considered close to the Lord by and through his honest pursuit of His ways! Abundant grace is found in exposing our spiritual selves. May we dive on in by revealing our actions!

Exposure brings us closer to others as well. In being honest with our family, friends, and to whomever it may be appropriate, we develop immense trust and incredible camaraderie between each other. Not everyone is capable of loving you when you are fully known, but to find such a friend is a great reward! In James 5:16 we are actually encouraged to confess our sins to one another as a means of building and uplifting the community of Christ. What I call, “Community through Confession”. We cannot truly grow unless we are willing to grow together. Transparency and prayer for one another benefits the whole.

It is even appropriate to say that exposure brings God closer to us. Making ourselves known has a positive pull in both directions. Us to Him, and He to us. If we are getting closer to Him, He is inevitably getting closer to us. Let me give you some scriptural support for this concept. Psalm 34:18 says this, “The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart, And saves such as have a contrite spirit.” In other passages we learn that God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. (Proverbs 3:34, James 4:6, 1 Peter 5:5)

What do these verses have to do with God getting closer to the transparent? Well, the one with a broken heart is not hiding his feelings of despair, he is baring all, for all to see. And having a contrite spirit speaks of repentance; Without openly admitting your sins there can be no true repentance. This man, the one of the broken heart and contrite spirit, the one who is open and honest, is whom the Lord draws near to. This man who has come to the light is humble and receives the grace he is given. On the other hand, the prideful man experiences resistance from God because he covers and/or denies his personal flaws. It is extremely difficult for this man to be transparent and he is a great hindrance to community because of it.

So, there you have it, exposure serves as a great catalyst for community. For fellowship and communion with both God and man. When we avail ourselves to each other, to know fully and to be fully known, real unity is formed. Then nothing can separate us from the Father and nothing can come between the body of Christ, the Church. If we make complete transparency our goal, the only way we can grow is closer. Sounds like creation at its perfection to me. The effect of the Gospel bringing us back to the Garden.

And, by the way, all things will eventually be exposed by God anyways. So might as well make ‘em known now while great grace is still available. That way you’ll be ready as the imminent return of the Lord grows nearer. In this way, exposure brings us closer to eternity.

“For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light.” – Luke‬ ‭8:17‬

“For there is nothing hidden which will not be revealed, nor has anything been kept secret but that it should come to light.” – Mark‬ ‭4:22‬

“Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.” – 1 Corinthians ‭4:5‬

Fluctuation Is No Indication

Flukey. Humans are flukey. It’s what being human means; imperfection. We are constantly wavering in our ways. If we can discover a course to live antithetical to our intentions, we will find it. And we will act on it. If we don’t find it, then we will certainly craft it. Funny how, if we’re honest, we can’t even meet our own standards, right!? Humanity is a race of natural self-saboteurs. Sinners. The simple truth being that we will fail to fully maintain the upward trajectory that we are all aiming for.

Thankfully, the perfect grace of Jesus Christ provides the perfect remedy for our inability to be perfect. For our inability to be consistent. For our inability to meet the measure of the law. He is righteousness in the unrighteous who are drawn, called even, to accept and trust Him as their savior. The Savior.

With this in mind I repeat the Spirit inspired words of Paul in 2 Timothy 1:8-10, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began, but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”

I believe (through scriptural support) that our struggle with fluctuating behaviors can be considered a form of suffering for the gospel. The reason being that, for the believer, it is heartbreaking to be aware of our unfaithfulness. Our awareness of our shortcomings and opposing desire to be made complete in Christ through the sanctification process couple together for a deep strain in our souls. A deep strain resembling a growth pain that often, as it ought to, produces some much needed change.

This is something Paul also addresses when he says, “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do. If, then, I do what I will not to do, I agree with the law that it is good. But now, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me. For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice. Now if I do what I will not to do, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells in me.”, in Romans 7:15-20.

Even after receiving salvation, the old man of sin interferes with the right intentions of the new man. We hope to always do the good, Godly thing, but often do the opposite, evil thing. This confounding conundrum of desiring to do one thing, yet doing another is spiritually excruciating at times. If we take it to the Lord though, it causes us to become closer to and more like Jesus. Grace is miraculous in this way, as it is in every way!

The beauty of the good news of the Savior is that it is not any work of our own that saves us. Redemption relies entirely on His purpose and grace that He offered to us even before time began. It comes from the sovereignty and love of God. He is the source at the beginning; He is the source at the end; He is the source all the way through. Our behavior does not save us and our behavior does not revoke salvation received. We gain all in Jesus Christ! We maintain all in Jesus Christ!

Believer, take comfort in these doctrines of Truth! They have been presented in scripture to provide courage for you in your walk of faith. In the context of our personal fluctuations, we can apply these truths to overcome the disappointment that accompanies them. We are extremely quick to beat ourselves up for our contradictory actions. And there’s no need for us to do so! God’s measurement of us is based not in our performance, but in our reliance on grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9). This is the case from salvation, onward.

Let me give you a practical example to aid you in understanding how this concept plays out: Everything has a trend. If you’ve taken basic statistics you know this to be true. When compiling any type of data you typically come up with a rather large sample size. Within that large sample size there are many outliers, both positive and negative. These outliers are understood to be somewhat outside the norm, so, though they are taken into account, they do not dictate the data. Instead, with all of the data collected, an averaged trend line is determined. The trajectory of the trend line is not shaped primarily by the outlying “flukes”, but by the consistent patterns and behaviors that are most evident.

This is much like any person’s life. Is it not? The accumulation of the moments of our lives is the largest sample size that we will ever know. In this sample size that represents us, there are outliers just the same. Outlying moments of a wildly positive nature as well as horrendously negative ones. For the most part these moments are out of the ordinary though. Most of the time our lives consist of monotonously gradual changes from moment to moment. From the discernible behavioral patterns we exhibit comes our personal trend line. Based on our specific behaviors and patterns we are set on either an upward or downward trajectory. This applies to every single man and woman, but is essential to any Christian’s eternal understanding.

Sometimes we’re up, sometimes we’re down. Sometimes we’re motivated, sometimes we’re lazy. Sometimes we’re inspired, other times we’re discouraged. Sometimes we’re joyful, other times we’re dreadful. We can be kind, we can also be hateful. We can be for others’ good, we can also be spiteful. One day we’re fun, the next day we’re miserable. One moment we’re selfless, and the next we are selfish. We have highs and we have lows. We’re people, these things happen! But our fluctuation is no indication of where we’re headed.

Emotions and their shifting cannot inform the trajectory of our lives because they are ever changing. Nothing about them is constant, therefore we can’t recognize the true trend that our life is following based on their existence. Acknowledge their presence, but handle their inconsonance with care. You will experience major victories as well as devastating losses. There will be both advancements and regressions. Don’t allow yourself to be swayed by the mountaintops or the valleys. Study your life, and discover your trend line. Begin in your relationship with Jesus. Adjust where you must, and keep up where you mustn’t.

“I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin.” – Romans‬ ‭7:21-25‬

Praise the Lord that our fluctuation is no indication of our standing! The true follower of The Messiah is in right-standing with God even in his failures.