Tattoos, Underwear, and Sin. Oh My!

I was having a conversation with a friend at church a few Sundays ago. We were talking about her tattoos. (Don't ask how the conversation got there, just know it did). She was expressing her regret about getting the tattoos and about the constant burden she feels to hide them. But, why? Can't she use her past, as a ministry, as way to reach others? She said that acknowledging her tattoos and what they represented about her life before she became a christian, was too difficult, just brought up too many old emotions, old wounds.

"Use your story, your life, your experience, because it is all from [God]" - Debbie Alsdorf

This got me thinking. Why is it that we only want to let our "goodness" out? I mean, why do we want to hide our pasts or our weaknesses from others? Is it because we fear their reaction, their impression of us?

Another friend, who is a teacher, told me this story...One evening she was shopping for underwear. Not just one pair of underwear, but a whole bunch of underwear. You see, her dog had destroyed her other pairs. So there she was, replenishing her entire supply of underwear, when a parent of one of her former students approached her. It's a friendly gesture, saying hi to a teacher, someone who has been influential in your child's life. But, because of the situation - she was, after all, buying a stockpile of underwear - my friend was thoroughly embarrassed.

But, why? We all wear underwear. Yes, there are different styles of underwear, some more embarrassing for public than others. But, it's all just underwear. Isn't the same true for sin? We all have it. And, while there are different types of sin, it's all SIN. Murder or lying, God hates it all. Not just the big ones. So, why are we afraid to show our sin to each other?

For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard. 

Romans 3:23

I recently started reading the blog, An Inch of Gray. The woman who writes this blog lost her son in a drowning accident a little over a year ago. In a recent post, she expressed gratitude to her blog community, those that have followed her journey through grief. She also posed questions regarding the necessity for others to share in her grief. She raised concern regarding the fairness of asking others to journey with her, to experience her pain. But, she concluded by writing this, "...there is a real feeling of blessing and relief that comes from being connected to others in grief and pain."

My friend, who lost her husband at the end of July, said to me, when talking with her about going through grief counseling, that she didn't want to simply talk to a counselor, she wanted to talk with someone who had been in her situation. She wanted someone who had lived through it. She was searching for a certain type of connection, for true understanding.

If you have been reading my blog, you know that I have been putting myself on display for all to see. You've seen many of my strengths and many of my weaknesses. It's all there. This has been difficult, but necessary. And, what I've found is that there are other people who are like me. Who struggle with some of the same things. Who feel reassured in knowing that someone else is struggling too.

We are all sinners. We can choose to use our sin or circumstances, past and present, to make connections and share hope, or we can hide them and suffer in silence.

Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. 

He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins. 

Romans 3:24 (NLT)

Share in the pain and regret. Share in the hope.