Out of Hiding

Kids do it all the time. A common cry when any conflict arises is that the other person started it.

Nothing more powerful than perception.  Nobody wants to take responsibility and possibly punishment.  Laying blame is a convenient way to hide one's own.  The truth that both parties are likely to blame equally for an interpersonal conflict gets obscured.

It's been around since the dawn of time.
Recall the question, "Did you eat the fruit that I told you not to eat?" 

Since that day we've been hiding from our own faults, afraid to admit we are wrong, afraid we'll get judged, punished, or whatever.

Once we get into a relationship with God, we keep doing it.  Only this time, we get into the "Everybody else but me" song and dance.  Consider the lyrics to this song from the late 70's / early 80's:  "I went to church one day last month, the preacher preached real good / He talked about true commitment and New Testament brotherhood.  He talked about watchin' the things we say, gossip that can wound and slay / I sure wish Joe had been there that day, 'cause he really needed to hear it."  (Don Francisco)

The truth will make us free.  Admitting we have a problem, whether it's spiritual, emotional, interpersonal, physical or financial, is speaking in truth.  Denying it is not (contrary to popular belief) "speaking in faith."  It is in admitting our weaknesses that we can come to the point of asking for His strength.  Humans can hide in denial for many years.


Much of my Christian life was spent like my friend here.  I was a hypocrite.  After years of saying publicly that I hated hypocrisy.  Typical.

The word hypocrite has two parts: hypo and critical.  Hypo means less or lower.  Critical speaks for itself.  A hypocrite is someone who is less critical of himself than of anyone or everyone else around him. He is blind to his own faults or failings, and sees them magnified in others.  My own particular brand of hypocrisy not only saw those faults in others, it tried to fix them in others.  This never worked; I tried for decades and it just backfired, time and time again.  People resented me, people avoided me, people just plain didn't like me.  I could hardly blame them.  I didn't like me either.

God used some pretty nasty experiences in my life to get me desperate enough to admit that I might need some help - that I might actually have the problem, not "them."  Once I did - and I did so only out of desperation - He stepped in and started to change me from the inside out, relieve me of my obsession with fixing people, and rebuild relationships that I thought were toast. 

He took me out of hiding and let me see the light of day.  I like this.