Shame: Shake it Out

 Shame  (noun)

a. A painful emotion caused by a strong sense of guilt, embarrassment, unworthiness, or disgrace.

b. A great disappointment. 

What do you regard as most humane? To spare someone shame.

Friedrich Nietzsche

Then the Lord God will wipe away the tears from all faces,
   and the shame of his people he will take away from all the earth.

Isaiah 25:8  

Navigating this Life

I never want to shame you into knowing Jesus. I will not guilt you or scare you into believing something you don’t feel compelled to believe. 

I never want to shame you for not coming to church. Sometimes the weekend home is where you need to be.

I never want to shame you for being lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgendered, or queer. And I won’t shame you for being heterosexual either. 

I never want to shame myself for being the person/partner/pastor I need to be. I accept responsibility for my voice.

I never want to shame my family and friends into doing something more/less/different.

Shame will not be part of how I pastor. And when it is, I never want to shame myself for my own hypocrisy.

I never want to shame you for being the 1% or the 99%. We are all in need of hope.

And when your lifestyle, your beliefs, your thoughts, your dress, your profession, your food, your ways look radically different than mine, I never want to shame you for attempting to navigate this life to the best of your ability. Because “the best of our ability” is what we are all trying to do.

Dear pilgrim, the road of Jesus is not of shame. Dear pilgrim, the road of Jesus is of freedom.

Please hear me: I am not saying that we are not responsible for our actions – we are. What I am saying is that we are free to mess-up and mistake. Last time I checked, salvation is not about my goodness but it is about the irresistible grace of God. So shake off that shame, shake off that devil, and dance – be free.