Tuesdays with Morris

While at Sr. High camp, I heard a message from Jeffrey Dean called, “Am I Hiding?” It was a powerful message on our tendency to hide from God when we fail.

He called us to identify the sin that we keep going back to and then asked, “What are you doing about it?” Are we hiding our sins or working on them? What is it that we are keeping in hiding that’s keeping us from a deeper relationship with Christ? Then, he simply said, “It’s freeing to let it out of hiding.”

This brings me to the whole concept of confession. In the modern church, we don’t really get into the practice of confession. James 5:16 encourages us by saying, “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so you may be healed.” In today’s church, our practice of communal confession is to write our sins down on a piece of paper and toss them into a fire, nail them to a cross, or stick them in the back of our Bibles.

He then focused on the story of the fall in Genesis 3. Adam and Eve messed up and went into hiding. To me, the most beautiful part of the story is that…even though they are hiding…God comes looking for them. They blew it, yet God pursues them.

Instead of facing the truth and bringing the truth to light, we tend to lie, hide, and cover up our sins. And, while we are lying, hiding, and in the midst of intricate cover ups, God continues to pursue us.

We can run from things…or we can learn from things. We all just need to stop running and allow God to get to work, to clothe us with proper clothes (Genesis 3:21). This is all about choosing to surrender…choosing to come out of hiding…and allowing God to capture us.

As I listened to this, I found myself not only thinking about my personal struggles with hiding…But, I found myself wishing that some people whom I know are in hiding could hear this message. I wish that people who are participating in cover-ups to protect their image could hear this message and let down their guards and come out of hiding.

Now, this morning, I’ve been listening to messages about confession, freedom, openness, honesty, owning up to our failures. And yet, I wonder if the person proclaiming these words is in the practice of owning up to his/her failures…I wonder if he/she is living in freedom, living out confession, living in openness and honesty…Or are we all hiding?

I’m one of the most judgmental people you’ll ever meet. I struggle with that. I’m not very good with money. I’m thankful to have a wife that can save the day. I have problems controlling my tongue…I have a tendency to swear and speak harshly of others.

However, in the talk about hiding, I found myself wondering if I’m participating in the hiding, in the cover up if I know of a brother/sister that is in the midst of hiding. I wondered if it was ever appropriate to encourage or push someone out of hiding. As I think of the calls given to Christian leaders in the Scriptures (see 1 Tim. 3; 2 Tim. 2:15-26; Titus 1:5-16; 1 Peter 5:1-11), I know that we have a responsibility to hold one another accountable. But, how far do we pursue this? Do we call someone out and encourage them to own up to what they are covering up? When I read the words of Paul in 1 Timothy 5, I find myself realizing that we do have a responsibility to call one another out or we run the risk of staying in hiding ourselves. Whether or not the person owns up to it isn’t my deal. My deal is simply to put it out there…to say, “I think if you are going to have any credibility and if you have a desire to bring about the least amount of damage to your community, you need to own up to it before someone owns up to if for you.”

Paul says this, “Do not entertain an accusation against an elder unless it is brought by two or three witnesses. Those who sin are to be rebuked publicly, so that others my take warning. I charge you, in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the elect angels, to keep these instructions without partiality, and to do nothing out of favoritism.” (1 Timothy 5:19-21).

Will you come out of hiding? Will you allow God to capture you?