What is behind the facade, part 2?

1st of March

Part 2

Last time I wrote about the different things one should look for when one is in love and considers marriage. Then I mentioned some of the things that could be hidden behind the walls of the church. I wrote about facades that were hiding lies and sin, but thank God: There are shiny walls that are pure and holy on the inside.

What kind of facades should we Christians reflect? Jesus. He lives on the inside of us and why are we so busy hiding what we have on the inside? The reason is that we also have flesh and we have problems with sin, sins that we haven’t confessed or sins that we do not want to get rid of. Some sins can look quite pleasurable for the moment. Many have not understood the depth of grace and do not understand that God loves us unconditional. It says in the Bible that we were loved while we were yet sinners.

We waste time and energy if we hide anything from God. He has eyes as ex-ray. He can therefore see and know everything. That gives me a good and secure feeling. I am so glad that I can come to Him with both the good and the bad. He receives me and I can confess sins, knowing that He wipes them away. I can also come to Him with my painful problems and I can talk with Him. He never pushes me away. We have a song going like this:“Come as you are!”. We do that when we get saved and we can continue to do that for the rest of our lives.

I think that most of us also like to be loved by people. I believe that insecure people spend more time and energy to keep their facade. I am the one who makes my facade. I do not leave the house without wearing ear-rings and lip-stick. You are allowed to laugh, but that’s the case. Others stand a long time before the mirror, putting on make-up and fix their hair before they meet the “world”. I have a relative and she has had the same hair-style for years and not one hair is out of place. (She does not wear a wig) Many people keep away from her since they cannot come behind the perfect facade. Maybe she is afraid that she wouldn’t be loved and she makes a perfect image. The truth is that most people cannot identify with the perfect and they shun away and she is not getting what she needs the most, love. This kind of behavior is most likely a subconscious one.

I do not believe that we should tell everything to everybody. When I work with people, we call this an uncritical behavior. Let us allow the Holy Spirit to guide us. We must first recognize that we have sins before we can confess them. I do know of people who seemingly have a perfect behavior, but secretly they sin badly. Some of these people do not recognize their own sins or they do not want to get rid of them. They live one life on the outside, but one life in secret. I want to refer to 2.Tim.3 where Paul mentions a series of sins. Then he says in verse 5: “They have a form of godliness but denies its power. And from such people turn away!” These words are quite strong, but I understand them since I myself feel how power is drawn out of me when I am am with false people. I must have friends who are real. I know that I can help people to unmask if I am free and act accordingly, but that is not always the case. It can have the opposite reaction.

I was recently in Brazil and I experienced my sisters and brothers there as very spontaneous and loving. I have never received as many kisses and hugs, but they also showed their love in practice. They gave their time and their money to others and they did not hide their Jesus. We were at a restaurant and the waiter was taken by his hand and was included in our prayers before the meal. It was so natural and simple. They shared Jesus when we were at a hospital and you could always sense the love of Jesus for others. I believe that fear of men keeps us away from sharing Jesus with others. We are so afraid of being rejected. We should naturally use wisdom, but the love of Jesus forces us to love others and give them the best we have. We will not reach people by saying the right words or by having the right expression in the face, but we reach them with love.We can read in 1.Cor.13:1 “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.” In Brazil I met a lot of people who had clothed themselves with Jesus and it was Him you saw when you met them.

I mentioned in the first chapter that we also have those who have a lousy facade, but they might hide pearls behind their negative facade. You and I might shun away from the drug addicts and the alcoholics. You might think that they are dangerous and they look so bad. Do you know the difference between them and us? Jesus. I have had contact with several and one was living with us for several years. He was almost clean from drugs then. These people live a very dangerous life and they “read” people quite well. Many of them are open for the real ting, but they hate false people. The one that lived with us, tested me many times. “She says that she loves me, but does she really mean it?” Love is more than words. Love is action.

We have to see the possibilities in these persons. Prostitution, drug addiction, alcoholism, crime, these are words that describe an outward facade. I am fully aware of the fact that there are criminals who might deceive us by their fancy facade. Behind an alcoholic or a drug addict, there might be a future pastor or a future evangelist. In Russia and former East-block countries we find a lot of pastors with a criminal background, but they really met Jesus and they are on fire for Him.

When one is looking for a treasure, one might dig both deep and for a long time before one finds the treasure. It might have to be washed and polished before you see how wonderful the treasure is. I almost threw away an expensive silver plate because it was black. A friend of mine saved it. After a lot of silver polish it was shining.

Those people who live on the outside of the social norm, have often lost their faith both in themselves and others. They need someone to wash them clean and someone who loves them unconditionally. They need Jesus.They also need a new life on the inside and the power of the Holy Spirit. Are we clothed with Jesus so that we can show them the way to Him?

Are you afraid of the light? Remember what I wrote last time. What is exposed by the light, becomes light. The devil operates in the dark. When people become too secretive, I believe that the devil wants to keep them bound to the deeds of the dark or he has wounded them so deeply that they do not dare to talk to anyone. They really need a lot of love and security and most of all a genuine person with a genuine interest in them.

DO NOT JUDGE PEOPLE BY THEIR OUTWARD APPEARANCE, BUT LOOK FOR THE TREASURES HIDDEN BEHIND!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mother Else