Transparent Authentic Vulnerability

Authenticity, transparency, and vulnerability are generally words that most people shy away from. They are messy and involved. However, I have found that these words often encourage healing in my heart and the hearts of people with whom I can be authentic, transparent, and vulnerable. 

Many years ago, I attended a women’s retreat and didn’t know anyone. At one point during the retreat, we had an opportunity to write our burdens on paper and nail them to a cross. The catch was that we had to say our burdens aloud as we nailed them. I was petrified. We all sat there looking at the ground, trying not to make eye contact with anyone. The room was silent, but you could feel the tension building. 

I could feel the Holy Spirit prompting me to go up and nail my burdens to the cross, and that feeling got more intense the longer I waited. I jumped to my feet, walked up to the front of the room, and began sharing every burden I was carrying. Every bit of sin and unforgiveness came tumbling out of my mouth and into the atmosphere as tears ran down my cheeks. 

After I nailed everything to the cross, I went and sat back down and composed myself. After a few minutes, someone came up from behind me and whispered, “Thank you for your transparency,” but before I could say anything or even turn around, they were gone. What I witnessed next has impacted my life immensely. One by one, I saw each woman in the room get up and surrender her burdens to the Lord. It was beautiful. Later, the Lord showed me that my willingness to get up and be the first person to be vulnerable in front of a room full of people who didn’t know me was what gave them the courage to go up and do the same. It was as if my obedience to the Lord was the key that unlocked the floodgates of freedom. 

Jesus longs for us to be authentic, transparent, and vulnerable with Him and one another. He already knows what we need before we say anything, but coming to Him and speaking our needs and struggles out loud is powerful. We were created to be children of God, not beasts of burden. 

James 5:16 says, Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. Jesus wants us to be healed, not dragging our burdens along with us. He wants others to see us for who He created us to be, our most authentic selves, not for them to perceive we are perfect and have it all together. 

The Pharisees looked like they had it all together, but their hearts were dirty and cold. Jesus saw straight through their façade, and it made Him angry that they treated others so badly when they themselves were not perfect. 

“What sorrow awaits you teachers of religious law and you Pharisees. Hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs—beautiful on the outside but filled on the inside with dead people’s bones and all sorts of impurity. Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.” (Matthew 23:27-28, NLT)

It is both refreshing and humbling to know that Jesus knows everything about me, past, present, and future, and yet He still chose to die on the cross as a payment for my sins. The same is true for you, friend. You are precious in His sight. You are fully known and fully loved by Abba Father. Perhaps it’s time to talk with a friend and surrender those burdens to the Lord you’ve been carrying for far too long. Are you ready to allow the Lord to heal your heart and set you free?  

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Scripture is quoted from from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.