Honesty is Hard to Come By

I have been thinking alot lately about relationships and the kinds of relationships I foster. I have come to the conclusion that developing genuine relationships is one of the most spiritual things that we can do. Think about it for a minute. When we are developing an honest, open, genuine relationship we are doing so with a human being, created in the very image of God. How many times have we prayed and not had our hearts into it? How many times have we sung worship songs and not meant a word of it? It is impossible to really initiate, develop and nurture a genuine, honest relationship with another human being and not be engaging the God of the universe.

This was the topic of discussion for our weekend gathering last week. We talked about how we have a tendency to develop relationships for selfish reasons. For me it is about giving...Earning the right to speak into someone's life...Wanting to help them. This is a VERY one sided relationship because for me I am developing not a true relationship but a dependent. NOT HEALTHY.

After I got done sharing I asked everyone to talk about where they are in the area of relationships and what God was speaking to them as to what they need to do in response to where they are.

The honesty was astounding. I have never been in a church service where people are so open and honest. It was truly breathtaking. It made me think: why are churches havens for fakeness? Why do we set up systems whereby people are not only allowed to be fake but most of our actions lead them to be so?

What would the American church look like if more pastors would just get up in front of their congregations and say, "So I have been pretty fake. Who you see on Sunday mornings is not who I really am." I think we would become a place of healing and safety that would change the world...

Just a thought.