Shame On You?

It seems to be our nature to want to control people while defending our own freedom. From birth we want to be in control and we want others to meet our needs. Children learn from a young age how to manipulate adults. I am not saying it works but children fight for control over their environment. Adults are no different and one of the many tools in our arsenal of control and manipulation is shame.

You have been a victim of shaming as have I and, if we are honest, we have used this tool ourselves to get people to behave as we think they should. It is a horrible feeling to be a victim of it, but it also feels powerful to use it. Some people have even graduated from the master class.

Shaming is the tool of choice in this age of social media. It is used to control anyone who steps out of line with the current social norms. I think we all agree that it is ugly to witness and we may even speak out against it but it is very effective with politicians, celebs, corporations and the average joe all bending the knee to the pressure.

But is this a Kingdom tool?

I have heard many preachers using this tool to try to control their people. The Church as a whole employs this tool to control society. But is it pleasing to our King? Does it line up with Father's heart? Are we even suppose to manipulate and control people?

When I returned to the Lord at the age of eighteen years old I came as a prodigal son. When my King showed up in my bedroom that wonderful morning thirty-eight years ago, my rebellion was glaring in the light of his glory. I threw myself to the floor, face buried in my carpet, wrecked by shame, tears of remorse flowing freely. But the shame did not come from my King. The shame was my own. It was how I made myself feel, and rightly so.

My Lord only showed me his glory, his goodness and love. He wanted me to know his desire for me. In light of this I felt shame for my rebellion. But Jesus did not leave me there. As quick as shame had come upon me, his love and forgiveness washed it all away. He lifted me off the floor and he turned my mourning into laughter.

Shame is not part of the Kingdom. It is not a tool of my Father. It cannot be what I use.

When I read the Scriptures I see again and again this same method that Jesus used with me. He just shows up and reveals the glory of his love, mercy, grace, compassion and his desire for the lost and rebellious ones. We, his people, citizens of the Kingdom, the children of Father, are to lift up Jesus. We are to declare his glory to the nations. We are to preach freedom to the prisoners. We are to demonstrate the Kingdom of God. There is only One who convicts the lost about their rebellious ways and he does it by showing them a greater love.

There is enough shame being thrown at people. Let us show each other and the world that Father's ways are the best. "While we were still lost in our rebellion, Jesus the Christ died for us." 

The Shame Of Guilt

Have you ever experienced guilt? Silly question. We have all faced guilt at one time or another. But what about guilt that overwhelms, even paralyses, preventing us from responding to people properly? What is surprising is to discover how many Christians have guilt even though they have received forgiveness. I thought Christians would be experts in forgiveness, considering how much Jesus taught on the subject.

For Christians to be paralysed by guilt means they have not understood the grace and love of Jesus; it means they have either not accepted, not trust or not understood Jesus' forgiveness. Such Christians live like Joseph's brothers, seeking forgiveness for the same thing over and over again. Joseph had already forgiven his brothers many years previous, when they first entered Egypt. Yes, they had done a terrible thing against him but Joseph recognized Yahweh's hand in it and told them that he forgave them. But it seems that all the years that followed, these brothers still carried the burden of guilt.

When their father, Jacob/Israel, died they collectively thought that Joseph would now get his revenge:

When Joseph’s brothers realized that their father was now dead, they said, “What if Joseph bears a grudge against us, and wants to pay us back seriously for all of the terrible things we did to him?” (Genesis 50:15)

How frustrating for Joseph but how sad for these brothers who carried this needless burden for so long. Joseph assured them:

“Don’t be afraid. Am I God? You planned something bad for me, but God produced something good from it, in order to save the lives of many people, just as he’s doing today. Now, don’t be afraid. I will take care of you and your children.” (v. 19-21)

Grace in all its beauty. How much more so with Jesus? When Jesus says it is forgiven, he means exactly that; it is forgiven. It has been removed from us, never to be thought of again. He has done this for all our offences against Yahweh; the past, the present, the future. His love for us is that great, far greater than we can comprehend. This too is a thing of faith, trusting that because Jesus said it, it is true. There is no place for guilt in our lives.

Forgiveness is a thing we must come to understand and accept. It is important so that we can receive and accept forgiveness but also so that we can forgive. We can never truly be forgivers of offences against us until we are able to accept Jesus' forgiveness. So, throw off that guilt and walk in the grace that has saved all those who have called on the name of Jesus as Lord and Saviour.

Paralyzed By Guilt And Shame

Too many of us in the Church stand in the shame of our past. It is true that we have much to be ashamed of considering what we have done against our God and the people he loves. But these things that are producing shame in us are things already dealt with, things long forgiven, things that no longer have any claim on us. When we bear shame we are not trusting the promises of Jesus. We have been promised that Jesus has removed our sin from us as far as the east is from the west. We no longer bear the guilt of the things for which we have repented because Jesus bore the blame in our place. It is done. It is finished.

Yet, we remain paralyzed by our shame. We fail to step into Father's plan and will, our destiny, because of our shame.

Along with us not trusting the promise is the enemy's attempted to keep us down. He will use every opportunity to remind us of our past. Although Father has forgiven and forgotten, the enemy will use people with long memories to keep us in our place. Regardless, it is still our fault for not facing the enemy in faith that the promises are true and are applied to us. Regardless of the accusations, name calling and denial of people who have known us, we should know who we are in Jesus and stand in that reality.

I believe some of us need to seek renewal. Actually, I am positive that much of the Church needs to seek renewal so that the authority of Jesus can be renewed in us and in the entire Body. Shame is like the threat of some disease that we do not have but the effects are as if we do. It is causing a dysfunction and the Body looks diseased. We all need to seek the Lord's face with all our heart, throwing off this cloud of shame as the authority and healing of Jesus rushes in. Yes, indeed, we need a massive healing in the Body.

King Asa did that in Judah. He heard from the Lord:

The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. (2 Chronicles 15:2)

He went on to promise Asa great peace if Asa walked with him. The king then performed a great house cleaning in the land and they renewed their covenant that brought in freedom and great joy. But consider their steps:

So they gathered together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. And they offered to the Lord at that time seven hundred bulls and seven thousand sheep from the spoil they had brought. (vv. 10-11)

They renewed their worship, their relationship. They came with great sacrifices in honour of their God.

Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; and whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. (vv. 12-13)

They agreed together to seek Yahweh with all their heart and with all their soul. It was a serious covenant between each other. This wasn't some "if I can fit it in" agreement but all consuming, first priority, life or death seeking.

Then they took an oath before the Lord with a loud voice, with shouting and trumpets and rams’ horns. (v. 14)

The oath would have been like a pledge of allegiance, putting themselves under him, under his authority, with a desire to obey him. It wasn't a somber affair but a celebration with loud voices, shouting, trumpets and rams' horns. They wanted everyone, everywhere to hear this oath. They were willing to be accountable to it. I would have liked to hear the words but the words don't matter as much as the motivation of the heart.

And the response of Yahweh?

And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around. (v. 15)

As promised, they found him and he was pleased with them and he gave them ... peace!

We need this same renewal where we renew our worship / relationship. We need to make this great covenant to seek his face together with all our heart and soul. Why together? Because we are the Body. We are in this together. We are dependent on each other. We need each other to be strong in the Lord. Then we need to make that oath of allegiance. Not quietly but loudly, so that everyone can see and hear and we will be accountable for it. And, as we renew our love with Jesus, the promises will be renewed in us and we will walk in the assurance of shamelessness and the peace he has promised us.

This shame thing is not Jesus' problem. He promised us peace that no one can take from us. He promised this because he was taking away the peace destroyers, the guilt and shame of our sins. No one else needs to recognize this in order for us to walk in this peace; people can remind us all they want. All that matters is that the relationship we have with the Peace Giver is strong and growing. Renewal brings healing and right now healing is the greatest need in the Body. Let us do this thing together so we can be the people of Yahweh that he needs us to be, that the world needs us to be, in this darkening age in which we live.