Living Naked and Unashamed
By: Susan Deborah Schiller Photo Credit
Dreams are like portals through which we can see behind the scenes of our lives, and often teach us what we need to know using symbols that present the knowledge in the form of a puzzle that we have the pleasure to piece together. In the following dream, there is a common dream symbol of being "naked and unashamed" and it symbolizes the real freedom Christ won for us at the Cross… to no longer live in shame.
In my dream, I'm leading a group of women in prayer. We are huddled in a circle, like football players before a game, in one of those small rooms just behind the main auditorium, usually used for choir rehearsal or for the leaders to have a private entrance/exit to the platform.
We are praying that God will give the people understanding of a very difficult subject. We are asking for illumination into the darkness of spiritual and domestic violence. We are praying fervantly but yet joyfully, our arms about our neighbor's shoulders and waists. All at once, we sense the breakthrough has come and we smile at one another, knowing that we have the courage to do what needs to be done.
One-by-one, we file out the door directly into the front of the auditorium. I am first to enter this spacious room, where I estimate that about 2000 people have gathered to worship. The music is already pounding out the rhythm to a modern praise song and the atmosphere is charged with joyful energy as people are worshiping with all their hearts.
My fellow prayer warriors and I walk to the open first row, where we have reserved seats. Clapping our hands and entering into praise we worship with all our hearts, our hands lifted high. I notice that the cameras have panned in on the ladies in the first row, and our faces are radiant with joy. What is remarkable is that we are all naked from the waist up!
There is no sense of lust or lewdness about any of us. We are simply "au naturale" and there is no sense of shame or of being out of order. The church leaders on the platform are beaming in admiration of us, amazed at our daring courage to bare ourselves. The congregation's energy hitches a notch higher and many are shouting out prayers, like "Your kingdom come and your will be done, here on earth as it is in Heaven!"
In the midst of this electric atmosphere, our stories are presented… we are like modern day heroes of the faith. We are ordinary women who have lived ordinary lives, but we have all decided to no longer hide behind the masks that Religion teaches us will hide our shame.
Instead, we we bare our hearts. We open up our lives with transparency and vulnerability. We tell our stories in Truth and the Beauty of the Lord Jesus radiates from within us.
For too long, Religion has taught us to cover our shame. But where did all the shame come from? Was it not Religion who taught us we were naked (unworthy, broken, messy, stupid, ugly, etc)? Then Religion taught us we needed a "covering" and that as we submitted to the leaders appointed to be over our lives, we would live under their "covering".
Little did the people realize their Abba God, like a tender and loving Father, wanted them to know that they are "perfect" in His sight! The Cross permanently removed our shame! We don't need a "covering" other than Christ, Himself. We are cloaked in His love! The church is simply meant to be a family of people who are in love with their Bridegroom!
As the ladies tell their stories, the audience – even the church leaders – are awakened to the Truth that we are all One. If one of us is shamed, beatened, or psychologically terrorized, it's as if the whole body of Christ has been abused.
Christ Jesus is our Heavenly King and our Bridegroom and He is coming for SPOTLESS Bride, without stains or even wrinkles. His love removes all the blemishes. We can't hide, stuff our sins under the carpet, cover, or in any way eliminate the messiness of our lives. All we can do is mirror the beauty, joy, and love in our Savior's face as He looks at us with unconditional, even wild and abandoned, love! Our messiness melts in the warmth of His fiery love!
As we each tell our stories we are clothed with a pure white bridal garment, described in Scripture as the "righteous acts of the saints". Our storie are simply our lives. We are living epistles. By the way we live we are either putting a face Christ, as He put a face on the Father, for the world to see. Or we are hiding.
Matthew 5 speaks of this as shining like a "light on a hill" instead of hiding our light under a basket.
Our life stories are meant to be the Good News that people read in our daily actions. The Bible in its written form is meant to be our foundation on which we build our lives. But life is our religion as we go out and BE Christ to the nations. True religion is what we do with our lives and who we invest our strength in…
Religion asks us to invest in buildings and programs and salaries with a little bit on the side for charity. True religion asks us to invest our hearts and lives, as well as our finances, into PEOPLE – in fact, into the ones most overlooked by the world's systems.
We are all One. Scriptures uses several symbols to describe this oneness. We are a temple built layer by layer upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets. Christ Jesus is the cornerstone of this temple. We are a living body, an organism whose every movement is directed by the head, who is Christ himself. We are a vine, part of a living tree, and Christ is the vine and the Holy Spirit is the vine-dresser. We are given these pictures – these symbols – to help us see that we are not in control of this world!
In other words, who are we – any of us – to say which stones are needed or which ones are unwanted? Who are we to determine which organ, muscle, cell, or atom goes where. Or do we dare to simply BE and DO what God has purposed and designed us to be and do?
Instead of positions, we operate in passions.
It's a Love Revolution… this being living epistles, presenting the Good News in the vehicle of our broken, messy lives. We are weak but He showcases His best work in our fragility.
We are the Avengers partnering with our Creator in putting things right in this world. Putting an end to abuse. We are stopping the bullies in every realm of our culture.
By simply BEING and DOING who God designed and purposed us for. Not by judging and condemning. Not by shaming and blaming. Not by declaring ourselves to be the "right ones" – the "best ones" – or the "only ones" who have eternal life.
All I know is that True Love Prevails. It's the kind of love that lays down its life. Abundant life is on the other side of the Cross. We are rewriting the future of this world through our lives. How we tell our stories to the next generation will impact life all across planet earth. Your story matters!
We are pushing back the darkness and rewriting our future by sharing our stories!
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With all my love,
Sue
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