My wife has the ability to capture every significant life moment in a picture.
EVERY. SINGLE. ONE.
Sometimes, I don’t even remember making the memory she captures. I think it’s a spiritual gift.
Most times, I just shrug my shoulders and give her my patent fake smile when its camera time, but not this time. No fake smiles or picture taking today…
Why?
Because we were in New York City and I did not want to be like one of those “funny looking, pants-on-rib-cage-map-carrying-picture-taking-I-heart-NYC-shirt-wearing” tourists. No, I wanted to act and feel like I belonged.
I’m not sure why, but sometimes, I’d rather be a poser than be myself.
I’d rather pretend to be a New Yorker [poser me] than just be a tourist [real me].
Just like I’d rather pretend to be a super Christian [poser me] than just be a sinner desperately in need of grace [real me].
Maybe I’m just afraid that if I’m honest about where I really am with God then he couldn’t possibly use me, but then you have the Apostle Paul who publicly referred to himself as ‘the chief of all sinners.’
Catch that? The Apostle Paul = Chief of all sinners.
Those two things [most influential guy in the Bible and self-proclaimed biggest screw up] don’t mix.
Or maybe they do.
Maybe being real about where we are with God is not only the start of receiving grace, but also a tremendous opportunity to be used by God, as our realness gives others the courage to be themselves and consequently find grace, too.
You see, it was so much easier for me to stop faking and simply be a tourist in NYC when I realized that I was literally surrounded by thousands and thousands of tourists.
And it wasn’t until I was a tourist [real me] that I truly enjoyed all the ‘tourist attractions’ in NYC.
What a defining moment when we stop posing because we realize and believe that the church and God’s story is literally filled with thousands and thousands of sinners in constant need of grace.
And oh, how beautiful grace tastes in the mouth of the sinner who faces his depravity.
Why do you think it’s hard for us to be real?
