We live in days of blurred lines. Have a look on your phone and it probably won’t take you more than a few minutes to find an example of someone over-sharing, of forgetting where the line between public and private should be drawn, of choosing hate instead of love.
We’re broadcasting our own stories, posting our best possible shots taken in the best possible light, hoping for someone to read, to comment, to like. And where does it leave us? For some it leaves us worried that we’re going to be missing out, anxious that we’re going to be seen as religious, insecure about how people see us.
All of it can leave us feeling trapped.
And yet, we are flooded with the truth of a gospel that is worth celebrating. We are servants, sons and daughters of a celebrating King who gave it all to have us close to Him. If anyone should be free, it’s us.
We think our response as worshippers should be obvious. We need to serious about joy, because the joy of the Lord is our strength. And after all, heaven is going to be the greatest party of all time, Surely we need to start practising now?
So don’t get caught up in your guilt or failure. Remember what our countryman Samuel Beckett wrote:
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”
Or, if you can forgive me for quoting another Irish writer, remember the words of CS Lewis:
“Seeds grow in dark places.”
We do not need to hide and we do not need to cower. Our failings to not define us and our sufferings to not have to destroy us. We are children of God - loved and cherished by the Creator of the universe.
So don’t get bound up in the fear of how people will see you. Don’t get sucked into the notion that your job as a Christian is to spread fear and condemnation among your peers. Remember that you are forgiven, that you are free and that you are worth more to God than you can imagine.
Let’s try to reengage our childlike hearts, stare with wide eyes and rediscover together the truth that we are free to be forgiven when we fail and to celebrate the countless good things which God has blessed each of us with.