Authenticity: Rising tide lifts all boats

I wasn’t sure I wanted to “share.”

I knew the tears would well up in my eyes. (Insert cursory feminine joke about mascara here.) And I haven’t known these women for very long, so tipping my emotional cards felt (extra) risky. We were discussing hypocrisy in the Christian life and how our social masks put an intimacy barrier between us and others. My story was relevant to the topic and even illustrated the point, all while pressing on tender parts of my heart.

I did open myself up and was met with compassionate responses. We talked more about how putting ourselves “out there” often invites community, builds friendship, and sometimes even supplies our needs in ways we couldn’t have anticipated. (Anybody else ever been surprised by a friend’s secret skills?) When we brave those waters, we are liberated from the self-imposed isolation of our challenges. How often when we bare our souls, we are met with kindness and even the unexpected, “Me, too.”

Ironically, I’d read 1 Thessalonians the night before and had seen another, perhaps more important, benefit of being vulnerable in Paul’s letter:

We sent [Timothy] to strengthen you, to encourage you in your faith, and to keep you from being shaken by the troubles you were going through. But you know that we are destined for such troubles.
— 1 Thessalonians 3:2b,3 NLT

After Timothy returns from visiting them, He goes on to say:

So we have been greatly encouraged in the midst of our troubles and suffering, dear brothers and sisters, because you have remained strong in your faith. It gives us new life to know that you are standing firm in the Lord.
— 1 Thessalonians 3:7,8 NLT

If Paul hadn’t known of their hardships, Timothy wouldn’t have been sent to keep them “from being shaken.” They’d been candid enough that he was aware of their need. But the bounty didn’t end there: when Timothy returned with a report of the way their faith had remained, Paul says it encouraged him in his own troubles and suffering, and it gave him new life.

Go with me here:

• The church at Thessalonica didn’t hide their hardships.
• Timothy goes to their aid and returns with a report of their faithfulness.
• Paul’s faith is invigorated by the way they stood firm.

Their faith in hardship bolstered Paul’s faith. 

Do you see, my friends, how our vulnerability does even more than just help us get through hard things or build relationships? When we are open with our struggles, inviting others into our heart of hearts, not only can they assist us (in prayer, word, and deed) but it can actually bless them, too? (I love how God engineers these things.)

If no one had known of the hardships the Thessalonians were enduring, no one would have known how their faith had weathered the storm. Through their vulnerability, they became a beacon of light, helping others navigate the deep waters of pain, struggle, and fear.

Are you overwhelmed with financial or professional stressors?
Are you worried about your children?
Is past sin haunting your present?
Is temptation lurking?

Whatever you’re facing, may I implore you to be courageous enough to let others in. Do it with humility, wisdom, and discernment. Most of us find it difficult to ask for and receive help. Realize, though, that as you allow friends to walk alongside you through those hardships, you are also giving them something of eternal worth: a buoy to their own faith. 

[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”” suffix=””]Authenticity is the rising tide of faith that benefits all who follow Him. [/inlinetweet]