Let’s get naked!

Ok, I’m sure you read the title and probably thought “Wait a minute? I thought this was a Christian blog” or either “Okkkkk, let me see how us saints get down.” My husband when he reads the title will be grinning like a schoolboy. So my apologies if I led you on slightly but no one is getting naked around these parts. Lol. I do want us to dive into the word of God and explode vulnerability in our physical and spiritual nakedness. Mark penned a very easy-to-read, concise book of the Bible. And while studying Mark, I was deeply moved by his literal nakedness.“A young man wearing nothing but a linen garment was following Jesus. When they seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind." Mark 14:51-52

Mark was a young man and follower of Christ at the time of Jesus' betrayal by Judas and capture by the crowd sent to arrest Him. I imagine Mark was like some of us when we hear our neighbors fighting and we step outside in our nightgown to catch a glimpse of the action. But the event was so frightening to Mark that he was scared out of his clothes. Running out of his clothes is how he became naked at the scene. But penning this transparently so other believers, disciples in his time and for lifetimes to come could relate to his vulnerability and his humanness, really got me to thinking "Am I and other women willing to be naked for Christ?"

It would have been really easy to leave out this part when He wrote this book of the Bible. To omit, his fear, his running, nakedness, deserting Jesus. It would have been really easy to only highlight the wrong someone else did (Peter) when he cut off a man's ear during this arrest. But Mark didn't take the easy way. He got naked for our benefit.

There are a group of women, young girls, people early in ministry, motherhood, a marriage that need to see us get naked, get vulnerable and share the UGLY truth about ourselves to bring glory to the BEAUTIFUL grace, mercy, and love of Christ. Someone needs us to not take the easy way out when it comes to parts of our lives that we want to hurry up get over with or even omit. This is what the scripture means when we proclaim we overcome by the shedding of the blood and the sharing of our testimonies. These naked testimonies are literally how we all overcome!

So how do we get naked when everything in our past learning has taught us not to love our perfectly imperfect bodies (failures/trials)? I remember telling my daughters I wanted to buy them full-body mirrors so they could get naked and look at their bodies, admire the artwork and masterpiece God created when He created them, and be confident in their skin. I thought I was losing my mind when I said it but I knew I wanted my girls to love their physical bodies because how else would they be able to present it as a living sacrifice if they didn't value it. The same applies to loving our full self-all the lessons, failures, heartache, bad decisions, all the ugly things about our relationships, divorce, infertility, bankruptcies, loveless childhoods, parenting mistakes- we have to look at them and be ok with being on display for Christ and that begins with accepting that God knew what He was getting Himself into when He created you and knit you in your mother's womb. He choose you and before He created you, He knew the good plans He had for you. Be ok with being the wonderful masterpiece you are. And then do like my mom always told me when I struggled to make friends. "To have a friend you must first show yourself friendly."My mom always said it starts with me. So it doesn't matter if you've never seen it done before. Vulnerability is reciprocal, what you give, you will most definitely receive back.

I encourage you to take a lesson from Mark today- get vulnerable and share your story. Leave the masks and garments that you've loaded on to hide your tests, scars, lessons, and life. Share with your spouse your deepest desires. Share your journey with someone. Because Mark's story did not end naked, frightened, and helpless. His story was full of his success in spreading the gospel, good news, of Jesus Christ. The same is true for each of you! Your nakedness, vulnerability, and sharing your truth and love story with God will not destroy your reputation. I believe it will be just like Joseph said, for the saving of MANY! I love you, God loves you more!