Why Are You Still Hiding?

You hide and I'll seek. At the sound of that simple phrase, children scurry in every direction in an attempt to evade being caught. Sometimes children are so good at hiding that the seeker never does find them.

Today I was reminded of how well we learn to hide. After listening to a conversation about visiting Baltimore and never seeing the drug ridden and poverty filled areas of the city, I said, "Cities are good at hiding their faults." Another person responded, "We are all good at that."

In a culture that has come to value the sharing of the most intimate details of our lives through Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Reddit, 4Chan, and more, we are all still very good hiders. Some people are so good that we never learn the reality behind their masked smile or their cloaked comments.

Why do we put so much effort into hiding? Perhaps it is because we have witnessed or personally experienced the humiliation of being found. Some seekers are bad sports and love to gloat when they discover those hiding. I know what you did. Can you believe she would say that? I heard that he has a problem.

"Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me."

Before social media we had to live with learning all of the juicy gossip at the beauty (or barber) shop, social club, playground, school locker room, and in church. I believe that social media has thrived for so long because on some level we all want to be known. This was expressed in the TV show Cheers:

Sometimes you want to go

Where everybody knows your name,

And they're always glad you came;

You want to be where you can see,

Our troubles are all the same;

You want to be where everybody knows your name.

The church is a place that is always welcoming. Right? People from all over, villages, towns, and cities, gather there with a sense of unity. Right? Church members all know that we are all sinners, saved by grace. Right? They understand that we are all on equal footing at the foot of the cross. Right?

Sadly this is not always the case. I would venture to say that it is rarely the case. Ask one of your church members who went through a divorce what they experienced at church. Ask the teenager who got pregnant in high school what she experienced at church. Some churches do a great job of loving the sinners while taking a stand against the sin. Most of the time we step on others when they are down.

One day a woman entered Simon's home where Jesus was and knelt at the feet of Jesus and started to cry, tears falling down on his feet. She kissed his feet and then dried them with her own hair and anointed them with perfume. Simon, being a pious and very religious man, thought to himself, "This man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what kind of woman this is who is touching Him—she’s a sinner!"

Jesus, knowing his heart, told the following parable:

"A creditor had two debtors. One owed 500 denarii, and the other 50. Since they could not pay it back, he graciously forgave them both. So, which of them will love him more?"

Simon may have been self-righteous, but he was a smart man. He answered, "I suppose the one he forgave more." 

"You have judged correctly,” He told him. Turning to the woman, He said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave Me no water for My feet, but she, with her tears, has washed My feet and wiped them with her hair. You gave Me no kiss, but she hasn’t stopped kissing My feet since I came in. You didn’t anoint My head with olive oil, but she has anointed My feet with fragrant oil. Therefore I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven; that’s why she loved much. But the one who is forgiven little, loves little." (Luke 7:36-50)

When Christians show the same kind of love and compassion toward each other and a sinful world, then perhaps people will feel safer in coming out of hiding (taking off their masks and their cloaks) and not just showing a facade to you, but actually sharing the deep down, nitty gritty, really real person inside.

I pray that God always reminds me that "Love must be sincere." Let me never forget the awesome sacrifice that Jesus paid for my sins. I hope that I always remember the great abundance of grace that God has shown to me. Through these, I will strive to love all sinners, to share the message of God's forgiveness with others, and to show grace toward others when they fail, and to lovingly lead them back to God.

Olly Olly Oxen Free. Why are you still hiding?