Sin is muddy. When it splashes, we rightly want to clean it up. But sometimes our zeal to clean causes us to oversimplify sin’s muddiness by seeking trite answers for complex situations. Wise counselors and teachers recognize shame’s complexity, and they seek to understand the mud before laboring to clean it.
A few days ago, The Gospel Coalition posted an article I wrote about Three Kinds of Shame. I examine Jesus’ healing of the man born blind in John 9 to show the process of dealing with great shame. These three categories help us to sort through such shame:
- My sin against God
- Others’ sin against me
- The work of God in me
These reflections came out of a talk I gave in October at the DiscipleMakers Fall Conference.
At the end of the clip is a link to the complete talk recording.
Or, if you prefer the bite-sized article version, check it out here!
Peter,
Praise God that you are who you are!! I just watched entire vimeo on John 9 (shame)…so blessed by your words…tears came to my eyes by your authenticity. Of course God knows I needed just this, on *Good Friday*. Thank you again.
Blessings.
Thanks for your encouragement. May the Lord help us all to see Jesus more than we see our shame!