If Big Brother filmed a day in the lives of our relationships with God and what goes on behind closed doors, what would they see? A reflection of our ‘Sunday’ selves or something entirely different?
One of my favourite songs is by a band called Casting Crowns. It’s called ‘Stained Glass Masquerade’ and it focuses on something that many of us may have experienced – feeling as though you’re the only person in church that isn’t ok. We look at the faces around us and everyone else seems to be living happy, exciting, fulfilling lives and yet we feel broken inside and pressurised to portray that same contentment, even though it isn’t true. I know that I have been guilty of going to church and pretending that everything is going really well, only to take off my mask and fall apart once I’m back in the safety of my own home, behind closed doors.
The song talks about what would happen if we were all to take off these masks and be honest about the struggles that we are facing and the way that we’re feeling. It can be so tempting to spend those precious few hours each Sunday pretending that we’re fine in order to keep up appearances, but if we can’t be honest in church then where can we be honest?
Churches should be communities that love each other and love Jesus, a safe place where people can travel the journey together and weather the storms that come our way. Sometimes all it takes is for one person to step out in faith and to be honest about their feelings, for countless other people to speak honestly and openly about the realities of their lives and the struggles that they’re facing. Truth and honesty breed respect, which in turn helps to build healthy, positive relationships.
Another of my favourite songs looks at a similar subject but takes a very different stance. ‘When the tears fall’ by Tim Hughes discusses praising God when all hope seems to be lost, when pain surrounds us and when silence deafens us. In Psalm 51:16-17 (The Message translation) David writes “Going through the motions doesn’t please You; a flawless performance is nothing to You. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice”. God doesn’t want us to put on a show. He isn’t asking us to be anything that we’re not. God is God regardless of any of us or what we are going through and we can praise Him simply for that, in public or behind closed doors. We won’t always feel like laughing and dancing with joy but that doesn’t mean that we can’t come to him with sincere worship and praise for who He is and what He’s done. We can praise and worship Him genuinely despite feeling lost, angry or sad.
So how am I able to say that I aim to live by and practise the messages of both of these songs when they seem to contradict each other so heavily?
I believe that we can take off our ‘happy faces’ while still coming to God in honest, heart-felt worship. Worship is all about the state of our hearts. We don’t need to pretend that everything is fantastic if it isn’t and we can be honest about that, but we also can decide to put our pain, our struggles and our worries at the altar and choose to worship God despite these things.
It’s not about worshipping because of our tears; it’s about worshipping despite our tears.
It’s not about coming before God because of our pain; it’s about coming before God despite our pain.
It’s not about crying out to God because we’re angry; it’s about crying out to God despite our anger.
In worshipping God despite our struggles, we can also be honest with those around us about where we’re at and where we are on our journey. Let us be people that worship God despite struggles x, y or z. Let us be people that throw away our masks, intentionally speaking honesty and truth, helping to build church communities that are encouraging, supportive and open with one another.
So if Big Brother was to film a day in the lives of our relationships with God, looking at what goes on behind closed doors, let’s pray that they would see the same Catherine, Andrew or Rachel that people see each week on a Sunday. That they would see people who aren’t pretending that everything is great when it isn’t, but people who choose to worship and come before God despite their circumstances.
Written by Jess Wilson
TweetMe @msjesswilson