Click for TED Talk on Vulnerability
“What did you just say?”
His face was etched with a look of shocked disbelief.
Yup, that’s what I said: “I feel like I am called to public nakedness.”
Now, before you go too far down that road in the corridors of your imagination let me explain…
I was speaking at a men’s weekend for a church in Winnipeg. We were having a fabulous time together: the Lord was doing some great things in the lives of the men and I was really enjoying reconnecting with the church that we had been part of for the 10 years we lived in Winnipeg. I was seeing some old friends that I hadn’t seen for probably 16 years.
At meal times I had the opportunity to speak with a number of guys I had known during our time in Winnipeg. We would catch up on what the Lord was up to in our lives. I was chatting with one person during a meal and found myself uttering the infamous phrase that led to his look of shocked disbelief. I had been sharing about the men’s ministry work I have been involved in through our Band of Brothers Boot Camps and my Wholehearted Men’s ministry. That’s when I indicated that sometimes it feels like God has called me to a ministry of public nakedness.
What I meant by that is really all about vulnerability. I believe that the Lord is able to accomplish some profound work in us and through us when we are willing to be vulnerable with others: when we are willing to expose ourselves a little; when we are willing to be seen; when we do not make every attempt to cover up shortcomings, weaknesses, doubts and failures to simply share shallow glory stories that no one can really relate to – or worse, to share nothing of depth at all.
I believe that when we are vulnerable we invite others in. It’s ok not to be ok. If you want to see vulnerability, read your Bible. The failures of many of the great fathers of the faith are scandalous. That is really what grace and mercy are all about.
We don’t have to be perfect. We don’t have to have everything all figured out and have it all together.
I am not saying that we should completely unveil all of our failures to everyone, but there is something very inviting about someone who is able to courageously and appropriately share an area of failure or doubt where they discovered the Lord in a profound fashion, or are still longing to discover Him.
Vulnerability opens the door to relationship. When you are vulnerable there is also a chance that you could get hurt, but that really is what relationship is all about. If we are not vulnerable and willing to trust, there can be no relationship. There can be no relating to each other.
What makes us vulnerable makes us relateable, approachable and embraceable. Vulnerability is a critical prerequisite for being wholehearted. How can we live wholeheartedly if we hide our heart? Not everyone is called to public vulnerability (nakedness), but those of us who live part of our lives publicly must be willing to be publicly vulnerable.
I believe we all benefit from choosing to be authentic and real. There is rich life when we choose to live vulnerably out of a deep sense of security in God – when we understand that our value and worth does not depend on how well we perform, but on the fact that we are beloved sons of God.
I encourage you to move forward in courageous vulnerability as you also drill deeper into the profound revelation that your value and worth is not based on how well you perform or how much you accomplish, but on the rock solid fact that you are a beloved son of your heavenly father.
Vulnerability is an opportunity for us to meaningfully connect with others and experience the power of God’s grace and love in a very authentic and real fashion.
I John 1:7
“If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His son, purifies us from all sin.”
Galatians 4:4-7
“But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, that we might receive the full rights of sons. Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.”