NorthStar Community Daily Devotional

February 10

Scripture focus: Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you. 2 Corinthians 5:16-20 MSG

For the next few days, we’re going to use the emails of our friends brave enough to share them with us, and have a brief conversation about each one. I hope you will be encouraged by their stories.

“I have a lot of secret sins. I wish you’d stop talking about sharing our secrets and confessing. This makes me feel uncomfortable. My secrets don’t hurt anyone, why do you keep harping on this? In my community, I am a well known, influential person. If I shared my secret life, my reputation would be tarnished. Are you freaking crazy? There is nothing wrong with having a little privacy. Oh, and by the way, I’m an elder in my church – so don’t think I’m not religious. I normally love your content and quote you often. But this time you’ve gone too far. No one really lives like this. ”

This email triggered a week long dialogue that started with a question from me: “How would you feel if your secret sin was suddenly made public? Would you be ok with that?”

Response: “That would be the ruination of me; I would die.”

My response: “Unfortunately, you would not die. You would have to live with the exposure (ask the Governor of South Carolina, Tiger Woods, Elliott Spitzer, etc. if you doubt me). We like to think that our secret sins are indeed secret. But this is rarely true in this world, and certainly not true in the next. Do you often worry about exposure?”

Response: “Only when you make me think about it!!”

My response: “Oh come on. Don’t kid a kidder. You’ve had some close calls with exposure, right? And didn’t you freak out and promise yourself to clean up your act if you didn’t get caught?”

Response: “Yes. Busted.”

My response: “Think about this. What you are currently calling freedom and the right to privacy is really bondage in disguise and supported by your propensity to reside in the land of denial. The enemy has you in his sights. If you had a safe way to come clean and live up to your reputation, not just do a good job with appearance management, would you have a better, more purposeful life? Honestly, do you like the guy that people think you are? Or do you like your secret dark self better?”

Response: “I like the guy that people think I am.”

My response: “Then get the help you need, find the community that can support you, allow God’s grace and mercy to heal you – and be that guy. Independently of God, you can’t do it. But with God, all things are possible. But it’s a process, and it starts with you getting honest about how you’re living today.”

Response: “Of course you are right. I will follow through today.” JUST KIDDING!!!! We’re still in conversation about this - both of us trusting God with the results. My friend feels pretty discouraged at the moment. I’m kind of excited to see where he’s headed. I’m really excited to see where we are all headed as we seek God with all our hearts.

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