Unashamed: Intro

In the beginning.1

Most of us know these first three words in the Bible, even if we don’t believe in the seven words that follow:

God created the heavens and the earth.2

It’s a bold claim, a profound declaration that is the very foundation of Christianity and Judaism. It proclaims that a Divine, Intelligent, Intentional, Creative, and extremely Relational being eternally existed before “the beginning” and is the originator of the Cosmos. And of you.

The universe isn’t a random power at work, but it is the Creator of the universe working in and through creation and humanity toward a really good ending and a new beginning.

If this isn’t your worldview, stick with me.

These words from Genesis are so crucial to the redemptive story of God that they are repeated in the Gospel of John, revealing the divinity and mystery of Jesus. The apostle writes:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.3

What was already a bold claim that God existed before the beginning becomes even more astounding as the writer claims Jesus was also present and participating when the planets were born. At his word, they were. The one who would eventually come into the world as a naked newborn baby birthed through the body of a teenage girl was also the one who spoke us into existence. John writes Jesus was with God in relationship and is also the Divine Creator:

He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.4

In him is the life of all human beings, and his creative intent is that no darkness can overcome the life he has given us through his love.

My heart and passion fueling this exploration of the Creation account of humanity and the exile from Eden are born from a new and beautiful discovery in these words. I’ve read Genesis more times than I can count, including a seminary-level course on the text. But I recently read these chapters with fresh eyes, and they changed my heart in ways I am compelled to share.

Now, we cannot deny that the first chapters of Scripture have often been and remain at the center of the faith-science debate, leading to division. But here's the thing: Genesis is not a science text.

Within church walls throughout Western Evangelicalism, this text has been used to subjugate women as the second and lesser human, made for Adam’s pleasure and the weaker one who Satan knew he could deceive. Here me: men and women are not at odds with each other but display the fullness of God. And if you believe that women are less than, weaker, or to blame for sin, you have bought the echo of that hissing serpent who came to divide and destroy.

The Creation account and the exile from Eden are about God. Period.

They are about a God who, out of all creation, looked at the man and woman he created and marveled by exhaling the words: “This is so very good.” They are about a God who existed before time and creation, with the One who was always the rescue plan.

What I have seen for the very first time, years after I surrendered my life to Jesus, is that what the Church has often called “The Fall” of humanity, or "Original Sin", may be better communicated to those open to the Gospel as two very central truths:

1. Satan, Evil, and Sin used (and continues to use) the emotion of shame to corrupt our relationship with God, one another, and our creative calling in the world.5

2. Sin does not separate us from God in a literal sense, but the shame of sin leads us to resist a relationship with God and return to sin. This resistance impedes us from receiving the freedom, mercy, and forgiveness in Jesus.

If you are a follower of Jesus and all the alarm bells are going off because of what I just claimed, good. I hope this shakes things up, and I'll tell you why. First, it radically changes how we respond to the brokenness in our lives. Behavior management and discipline are key, but until we understand the powerful drive of shame and encounter Jesus in our shame, we will remain in bondage. Second, it profoundly transforms how we see and love others. Ultimately, it changes how we live and love. It brings us back to the easy yoke and light burden of Jesus.

We currently live and move about in a culture that is marked by incredible division, anger, anxiety, addiction, and loneliness. As we enter debate and election season, Satan would love for us to continue clinging to the “othering” of “those people” while we hold fast to our self-righteousness and pride, clothed in Christian conviction. I genuinely believe that if we dive deep into these chapters in Genesis, we will see our current world through a new lens that exposes the shame-driven, creativity-crushing, relationship-destroying enemy for who he is. The one who thrives on us doubting God’s goodness and the shame that results when we give way to fear that our Father won’t show up. Perhaps through this new lens, we will see God move in restorative ways beyond our imagination.

If I lost you somewhere in the idea that sin does not separate us from God, let me remind you that if God could not be in the presence of sin, Jesus would not have eaten numerous meals with the most scandalous of sinners while a woman wiped his skin with her hair. Yes, that is in the Bible.

Friends, shame drives all the things that destroy: addiction, abuse, mental health challenges, sexual struggles and infidelity, relational breakdown, and societal division.

I’ll conclude with a timely quote from Brené Brown, followed by a word of Scripture:

“In our political chaos, people throw around the word shame-less when they see someone make a self-serving or unethical decision, attributing unconscionable behavior to a lack of shame. This is wrong and dangerous. Shame isn’t the cure, it’s the cause. Don’t let what looks like a bloated ego and narcissism fool you into thinking there is a lack of sham. Shame and fear are almost always driving that unethical behavior. We’re now seeing that shame often fuels narcissistic behavior. In fact, I define narcissism as the shame-based fear of being ordinary.”6

38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.7

Thank you for exploring this with me, and I’ll see you in the Garden.

Link to Lesson Video:

https://youtu.be/RiL-JExYrI8

Reflection Questions:

1. Why do you feel the writer of Genesis felt the need to document that the first human beings lived without shame?

2. What area of your life has shame been most prominent?

3. Can you examine your own journey, and see where shame has prevented you from receiving and giving love?

1 Genesis 1:1a NIV

2 Genesis 1:1b NIV

3  John 1:1 NIV

4 John 1:3-5 NIV

5 Thompson, Curt. The Soul of Shame : Retelling the Stories We Believe about Ourselves. Downers Grove, Il, Intervarsity Press, 2015.

6 Brown, Brené. Dare to Lead. New York, Random House, 9 Oct. 2018.

7  Romans 8:38-39 NIV