The Random House dictionary defines the word transparent as follows: "showing through", "Having the property of transmitting rays of light through its substance so that bodies sitiuated beyond or behind, can be distinctly seen." "Easily seen through, recognized, or detected." That which is transparent allows objects to be seen clearly through it. That which is translucent allows light to pass through, diffusing it however, so that objects beyond it are not distinctly seen. It then goes on to define opaque which means "shaded" & is the opposite of transparent. "Not transparent or translucent; impenetrable to light; not allowing light to pass through." "not shining or bright; dark; dull", "hard to understand; not clear or lucid."
I have been told by several people that I have the "gift" of being transparent. Some people really do see it as a gift, a blessing; but there are some people who see it as a curse. Why is that?
In my Christ Care group we are currently going through a very powerful dvd study called "H20 A Journey of Faith" (I highly recommend doing this study...it's by "City on a Hill Productions"). The second sesssion we watched was titled "Polluted". In the reflection section of the study it listed several "pollutants" of the church & asked which one bothers you the most. My answer was "the hypocrisy of those who claim to be following Him".
To be honest, that particular pollutant drives me close to insanity. Not because I think that all Christians should be perfect. Quite the contrary, I know we are not perfect...and neither is anyone else except for Jesus. But as followers of Christ, we should strive to be like him. We should do the best we can with the power of the Holy Spirit. We should confess our sins, repent & ask for forgiveness. We should then accept God's forgiveness & strive to "go & sin no more." We should stop hiding behind church curtains, padded pews, clerical collars, a bunch of initials behind our names, &/or a long list of the "great things we have done for God" because none of this truly matters to Jesus if we do not have his love inside of us &/or do not let it shine outward to others.
In the "Polluted" study, it goes on to say that the Bible tells us not to blindly trust people, especially those who claim to be communicating messages from God. Why?
Because people will let us down. People will intentionally mislead. People are polluted by sin (the whole reason we need Jesus to begin with).
"My dear friends, don't believe everything you hear. Carefully weigh & examine what people tell you. Not everyone who talks about God comes from God. There are a lot of lying preachers loose in the world." 1 John 4:1 The Message
The church's hypocrisy has done a lot to decrease the witness of Jesus. We have made it opaque & not transparent. Jesus is calling us to be transparent so his light can show through clearly & He can be seen for who he truly is...the pure, living water...what we all need.
1 comment:
awesome post, Kathy. i'm right with you. and i think the blog title sums it up perfectly. transparent... not perfect. i think too many "church people" try so hard to be perfect, or rather, to LOOK perfect.... they want to look good. and i think that makes them the perfect definition of translucent. diffusing the light so that objects beyond it are not distinctly seen. it pollutes real Christianity and what it's really all about. those little things called grace and love...
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