shame or share

Being accepted by others demands that we cling tightly to the status quo. As long as we follow the rules and stay within our comfort zone and capabilities, we cannot go wrong. We can avoid being seen as abnormal or weird. Is this lure of the "way things are" wrong? Isn't this the safest place we can be to avoid shame and blame?

Staying within everyone's expectations is what keeps us legitimate or acceptable, which is one of the strongest human needs.

This may have been where Timothy was in his soul (thinking, feeling and acting) when Paul chose to write to him. Paul challenged him this way, "stir up the gift of God which is in you." The words "stir up" literally means "fan the flames." Give air to smoking embers that will fade away unattended. This was a call for Timothy to move beyond status quo. To move beyond his comfort zone and his reasonable competencies. Paul recognized that Timothy's risk was to see his purpose through his own eyes, not God's. Our human nature welcomes a purpose that is natural for us, that fits our needs to be safe and applauded in others' eyes. Paul reminds Timothy that God "saved us and called us to" purposes that rely on His power given to us. God's will for us is not that we hold back in fear of shame but move forward in thanksgiving to share.

Sharing in God's economy is not what we typically think of. Its not the usual idea of giving from our resources. We are likely to view giving from our abundance and giving within our natural capabilities. This can be what some call, "the weakness of the soul." Sharing is drawing on what God gives us we don't already have or can't get on our own. Sharing is trusting that God has chosen us to act on His behalf in a special and unique way with no sense of how others will judge us. Sharing is a supernatural giving that comes by faith (unseen evidence) in what God invites us to do.

I know in my own life I can get like Timothy. I can be more concerned with what people think about me than how God is urging me on. I can have little pity parties when nobody notices my effort and sacrifices. I can be demoralized when others are getting credit in self serving ways. I can feel alone with God, outside of people's praises, left only with His ideas for me. I can hold back my efforts because I fear the shame that others will misunderstand and criticize me for venturing out in "strange ways."

I think Paul wrote to Timothy so I could listen in. I need to remember that I too can find that I prefer to sit quietly, hold back, and avoid the shame others may see in me rather than relentlessly sharing the gift God put in me through His power.

When you think of your "weaknesses the soul", what do you tend to ponder?