Shame

This morning at church, the pastor spoke on the topic of shame.  His sermon was great, mostly because he did a great illustration.  I wanted to share it with you!

Dan (the pastor) talked about how many things can bring us shame.  He got a backpack, and had a volunteer put large rocks into the backpack as he named the shames they represented: a job (losing one or being in one that feels below you); a child not living up to your expectations; unfaithfulness (yours or your spouses); certain emotions; being overweight.  Stuff like that.

The backpack, obviously, became quite weighed down with rocks.  Dan likened this to being weighed down by shame.  Excellent part of the illustration (EPI) #1: it weighed him down emotionally as it was hard to carry, but shame also weighs us down and affects us physically!

Then Dan talked about how we try and cover up our shame.  He put his suit coat on over the backpack full of rocks.  EPI #2: Even though we feel like we're hiding our shame, something is still obviously wrong with us.  He said it was like being deformed: when we feel shame, we feel like the way we were created to be has somehow gone wrong.

By the time Dan was finished speaking, I had actually forgotten about the backpack.  And I think that's EPI #3: the people we are worried about seeing our shame totally forget about it, but if we insist on carrying it around, we're never going to forget about it.

And, of course, we don't have to carry the shame around.  God doesn't want us to.  He wants us to put it all at the foot of the cross (which Dan did), and stop feeling ashamed, weighed down, exposed, deformed.

At the end of the service, Dan asked us to close our eyes and hold out our hands, imagining we were holding a bag filled with our shame.  I don't know if you've ever held your hands clenched straight out in front of you, but the longer you hold, the heavier your hands feel!  It was EPI #4: feeling the weight that shame can bring.  And then we let go of our shame.

So here's me letting go of my shame: I am unnecessarily ashamed that I have to take Prozac because I am anxious and/or depressed.  I feel non-Godly shame because I have gained ten pounds since high school.  I am ashamed that I can't last three hours without eating.  I feel shame because I have to have two part-time jobs, and not one full-time.  That shame deepens into the shame of not having much money.  I feel shame because I'm not furthering my education; in fact, I feel less smart than I did two years ago.

But you know what?  You know what, Satan?  You are wrong.  And that feeling I feel, that shame, those rocks I carry around?  They are wrong, they are not of God.  This is of God: I am complete; I am beautiful; I am healthy; I am hard-working and dedicated; I am rich in life; I am intelligent.  God is for me, so you, shame; you, sin; you, Satan; cannot be against me.  So there.