Our True Self

Yesterday in our worship time we looked at Ezekiel 10. Ezekiel is showing God’s people here that there is more going on than what can be easily seen on the surface of things. As I said yesterday, this is true of the world around us, but it is also true of ourselves. We have a public face which we use to present ourselves to the world. There is a more intimate part of ourselves, a more real part of ourselves, that we tend to hide. When the Bible talks about our soul, or our heart, I think it’s this true self that is being talked about. Now, here’s the problem. Because we spend most of our time projecting our “public image” and we become so good at hiding our true self, we can become confused about who we are ourselves. We begin to believe our own hype.

If we have any hope of coming to know God in a true and meaningful way, it is necessary that we do so from this “true self,” from our soul. Our public self is concerned with externals and with surface things, therefore we can only have superficial relationships unless we are willing to dig deeper within ourselves. It’s hard to bare our souls to another—even God—because it requires a deep trust that the one with whom we are sharing our true selves wants good things for us, and isn’t seeking to hurt us.

It’s important for us to think about this in our dealings with each other as well. The kind of true fellowship to which we are called by Christ requires transparency in order to develop intimacy, and it will inevitably entail risk. It’s always risky when we share ourselves with one another, and it always requires trust.

The AWW youth group fundraising auction was last night. Thanks to all who came out for the fun, and thanks to Elliott, Liz, and the youth group for your hard work in putting it together. Make sure to check elsewhere in this E-Gram for all of the upcoming events.

God bless,

Brian