Honest Community

Week 35, Monday

Crystal Schwartz

“Five different times the Jewish leaders gave me thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. Once I spent a whole night and a day adrift at sea.”

2 Corinthians 11:24-25 (nlt)

I had just started seminary, fresh out of college. I was young, green, and naive about what graduate school would look like. I guess I thought I would see all kinds of young, sloppily dressed students carrying backpacks and coffee mugs sliding into class at the last possible second. I figured seminary was a lot like college. I was wrong. I remember walking down the halls in my first week feeling overwhelmed. I was definitely outnumbered, as the ratio of men to women seemed to be ten to one, and most of my peers were in dress clothes and carrying briefcases. They were also older, as most of them had surrendered to ministry after a time away from school. Where was I, and could I fit in?

Have you ever been to church and looked at those around you and thought, “I don’t belong here?” I have heard many women say they felt uncomfortable coming into a church because it was full of pretty, perfect people who seemed to have their act together. In 2 Corinthians, Paul confronted church people who had criticized him for not being more charismatic like other leaders they had seen. Paul defended himself by saying he had as many credentials as those other men, but he did not care about credentials, and he was not going to base his ministry on past accomplishments. However, Paul says there were some things he would brag about, and he listed all the pain, suffering, and hardships he had gone through in his time as an apostle.

When was the last time you heard someone do that? What would our churches look like if we talked more about our failures and desperate need for God rather than our successes? What if our greatest “credential” was our heart for God? What would it look like for you to boast in your weaknesses with the people around you?

Lord, help me to set the trend in being honest and outspoken in my hardships rather than hiding them. Help me to see past others’ appearances and into their hearts. In Jesus’ name, amen.