On Sunday evening, as part of our series on the Holy Spirit, Beth Barnett preached an excellent message from Ephesians 6 on the Armour of God. Beth made the point that our vulnerabilities and insecurities, our family of origin, our sin and the sins of others against us, all combine to cause us to wear armour. Armour that causes us to be defensive, and armour that we use to attack. This armour shows itself through our pride and prejudices, and through the "face" that we put on for others.
A question that Beth raised was, "What would it take for us to take off our self-developed armour, in order to put on the full armour of God?" The ludicrous picture that came to my mind was of a child who insisted on retaining his own home made armour and the consequence was that there was no room to add the best, craftsman developed armour. The refusal to put off led to an inability to put on. Perhaps this is what lies behind the lists of vices and virtues that the Apostle Paul writes about. He urges is to put off (Eph 4:22,25) before telling us to put on (Eph 4:24; 6:11).
Within the analogy used by the Apostle Paul, most of the pieces of armour are defensive with the sword of the Spirit, and perhaps prayer, being the only offensive weapons. Yet when we speak of our "defense mechanisms" they are usually ways of protecting us from pain and vulnerability and arise when we don't trust the people or circumstances that we are in. By contrast, love and acceptance take us on a path to authenticity. The question that arises for me is, within a world that is often unloving and unaccepting, how do we gain the strength to develop authenticity? If our false sense is held together by the glue of our defense mechanisms, how do we truly identify these defense mechanisms and trace their origin rather than conveniently accepting, "that's just the way I am".
"That's just the way I am" may be a naive lack of understanding or it may be a cop out - a failure to be willing to do the hard work of looking back and looking within, a fear of what we may find if we look long into the mirror, to confront and learn from our shadow side. What takes away this fear? Surely it begins with a person or a community in which we find true acceptance and love. But where can we find such a person or community? Where can we be free from criticism and hostility? At its purest level, we cannot find this in any person or in any community for all are marred by sin and all respond from their own defensiveness and pain. Is there then no hope?
I believe that hope can only be found in the grace of God; this rich, deep, full and true acceptance that does not try to paper over our sin but takes it upon Himself - and takes it away. It is only in this amazing grace that we can relax and then, in the midst of being transformed, become people who seek to live beyond our defensiveness into the truth and authenticity that comes from grace. And it is in that place that we grow. And it is for that reason that we need relationship and we need community not only to enable us to unmask ourselves and strip away the false armour but to clothe ourselves with the attitudes of Jesus and become His vehicles of grace for others (Philippians 2:1-5).
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