Vulnerable

I was scrolling through Instagram one day recently and I saw this quote:

“Love is a form of intimacy and you can’t have intimacy without vulnerability.

If your past makes you avoid vulnerability, you’ll never have intimacy.

Avoiding vulnerability feels like self-defense, but in the long term it’s self-harm.”

It made me stop and think about a lot of things. I'm not going to be able to write about it all here today...

The one question I am pondering is, "Does 'church as we know it' allow people to be vulnerable?"

The model of sitting a listening to someone preach every Sunday morning doesn't breed an environment of opening up and sharing. In fact, most churches don't allow for a time of sharing because people might talk too long, or share things that aren't supposed to be said in church.

Being vulnerable was part of the scenario as the early followers of Jesus met in HOMES to pray and worship. The early model was not a "meeting" it was COMMUNITY and FELLOWSHIP. It was small groups that prayed, worshipped and ate meals together. It was not large groups where being vulnerable and intimate was not allowed. It's no wonder the church grew in number by the thousands!

So, what happened?

I believe that people got in the way. Egos got in the way. People were forced to listen to "those in charge" and were not free to share their hearts. The ability to be vulnerable got shot out the window.

As the quote above says, "Love is a form of intimacy and you can't have intimacy without vulnerability."

What is the church supposed to do? LOVE! How can we truly love if we have squashed vulnerability??????

I hope you stop and think today... Are you allowing those in your life to be vulnerable? Do you listen without judging? Do you love them through the crap they are facing? Are you bringing an atmosphere of vulnerability to the environment you are in?

Just some thoughts to ponder... I can't put all my thoughts together today. I'm still processing much myself. My prayer is the couple questions above make us all stop and think.

Love and blessings,

Rose