Being Foolish

I try to read for improvement whenever I can.  I do not casually buy every book that comes out, but I am always watching for titles that will challenge me in my walk with God.  Over the last couple years  I have read a lot of books on Marriage as I try to understand what has gone wrong in mine.  I want to learn how to change behaviors and avoid mistakes.  I also read a lot of men’s books, trying to understand my own heart and the way God created me.  Every once in a while, I feel like I need to step back from all the self-examination, and read something that examines Christ, something that points to him.

I have only just begun to read The Importance of Being Foolish: How to Think Like Jesus but I can already tell it will be that kind of book.   I am doing a bunch of underlining of things I want to write about or think about more.  One thing that struck me is the idea that the pursuit of power, pleasure and safety keep us from being transparent.  This by itself is a good thing to note, but what the author is really saying, and explains more, is that it keeps Christ from shining through us.  We become a shaded lamp which does not let His light through, instead of a lighthouse with a blazing bulb inside.  This is a different way to talk about transparency.  I generally think about it as me being transparent about my feelings, motives and actions.  Without Christ, that kind of transparency is like an inner window in an old apartment building that has been bricked up.  It is still transparent, but looking through it does not show you anything.  I need to be transparent for the purpose of letting Him shine through.

Transparency, Transparency, Transparency

The gift of presence is a rare and beautiful gift To come unguarded, undistracted, and be fully present and fully engaged with the one whom we are with. Have you noticed in reading the Gospels that people enjoyed being around Jesus? They wanted to be near him – to share a meal, take a walk, have a lingering conversation. It was the gift of his presence. When you were with him, you felt he was offering you his heart. When we offer our unguarded presence, we live like Jesus. And we invite others to do the same.

This quote from Captivating by John Eldridge, is aimed at women, but I could not help but apply it to our lives together as men.  I am often so distracted by my own problems that I do not make myself present to listen to the man in front of me.  It is always rewarding when I manage to  “Stop, Look, and Listen” (good sermon title).  When I find myself with a brother who is truly seeing and hearing me, I need to be prepared to offer myself unguarded, not my self, but God in me.  In the end it all comes down to three words…Transparency, Transparency, Transparency.