Exposed!
Posted: July 2, 2008
“Is this a liquid?” asked the woman at airport security. She frowned at me as she held up the mysterious white bottle that had slowed down the entire security process. “Yes, I said sheepishly – its glue.” CAUGHT!
I had just finished walking through airport security with a forced, plastic smile and answered for the umpteenth time that, ”Yes, all my liquids, gels or lotions are in a plastic bag.” I know the rules, I thought self righteously – I can do this in my sleep. But this time my self assured, confident attitude backfired on me. The airport screening machine found something that I did not declare – a liquid bottle with a strange while solution.
Airports make me grumpy. I dislike that fact and try to hide it from all the people around me by forcing my best smile. How prideful of me to think I am fooling people. I need to work on my ”airport attitude” and he showed me that once again by exposing my self righteous attitude. He is like that airport screening machine – CAUGHT!
I try to fool people sometimes but I know I can’t fool God. He sees everything that is in my heart heart – all my motives.
As you read this – what are you hiding from God? Is something hurting you that is making you miserable but you keep covering it up with a plastic smile? Do you feel lonely and overlooked, but pretend you’re not? Is an old sin causing you to pretend you are better Christian than you really are? Do you keep trying to please people because you feel so unworthy?
I have to be very honest with myself before I can be honest with God. But here is what I find. When I tell God my deepest insecurities, failures and grumpiness, it frees me up to be a more authentic person the next time around. Please pray for my next airport experience::))
Lovingly … Heidi
One response to “Exposed!”
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Interesting questions. Pray tell; what would be your advice be to the lonely and overlooked? (It might be prudent to remember that most lonely and overlooked people are lonely because they ARE overlooked.)
In my experience, it’s those who hold positions of power and influence in the church who are the most likely to be phony and dishonest–after all, they have the most to lose should their secrets be exposed. Indeed, these very same hypocritical, self-absorbed, ecclesiastical liars easily maintain my arguments for a boycott of church altogether. One can only take being tortured, humiliated and openly despised so many times before coming to the inevitable conclusion that church is not a safe place to be.
Unfortunately, the corporate structure of leadership employed by most churches today lends itself to corruption, abuse and the phony facade you attempted to address with the airport etiquette lesson. Those who feel the need to ‘pretend’ are trapped in an ‘action’ system that rewards results and conformity over a ‘submissive’ Faith that allows us to be who we really are–warts and all.
Let me know if you ever come across a church like that….I might try it out.