“The Antidote to Shame is Vulnerability Rooted in Identity”
Speaker: John J Roberts
Series: Out of Hiding: Moving Out of Shame and Into the Beauty of Being Known and Loved.
Date: October 9, 2022
Introduction:
Psalm 139; Isaiah 43:1-2
Who are You… and Who Gets to tell you So?
A summary of what grace-filled, people, and a community looks like…
James Bryan Smith identifies four places that we can get our identity:
Inter-Apparent Form… Who do YOU say that I am?
Intra-Apparent Form… Who do I say that I am?
Outer-Apparent Form… who I WANT to say that I am.
Women’s definitions or experiences of shame:
Men’s definitions or experiences of shame:
“We tend to sell our identity to the highest bidder”
-James Bryan Smith
The fourth form is The Christ Form: When we can settle our identity on The Christ Form then it isn’t an APPARENT identity, it’s the truth!
Matthew 3:16-17; 17:5
Notice what John wrtes in I John chapters 3 & 4…
I John 3:1-2; I John 4:9-10; I John 3:19-20
When I know who I am I can live freely and lightly and vulnerably.
Matthew 11:28-30
The antidote to shame is vulnerability –Brene Brown details some of the myths of vulnerability.
Myth #1: Vulnerability is Weakness:
Myth #2: I don’t do Vulnerability:
Myth #3: Vulnerability is Letting it All Hang Out:
Myth #4: We can go it Alone:
Thinking from a biblical context…
James 5:16; Psalm 32:3-5
We need to risk telling our stories more truly.
I need to be reminded of who, and whose I am.
Second… that I don’t have to tell my story alone when I find MY PEOPLE.
Third… living in the light is freedom.
Reflection: Develop a Beloved Charter
- Begin to develop a “beloved charter” by taking the next few moments of reflection and writing down the things that you KNOW God thinks of you. Write meaningful scriptures or reflect on songs that move you and remind you. Craft a paragraph that reminds you of who you are in God’s eyes.
Questions for Reflection:
- Who are my “healing cloud of witnesses?”
- What keeps me from telling my story truly?
- What is a step that I can take this week to begin to lean into finding my people?
