Surface Level

We can come into a church each week looking pretty on the outside. We can make sure that our outfit looks just right, our hair is done in just the right way, and that there are no glaringly obvious blemishes. Parents reprimand their children to act appropriately so that no one notices that things are actually out of alignment in our lives. Couples act as if everything is just fine so issues won't be brought up. We plaster a smile on our faces even when it doesn't reflect what is truly going on in our hearts and minds.

We convince ourselves to hide the disease, brokenness, and fatal wounds that are infecting us because we don't want to admit they are there. They fester within us and damage relationships as a result of the venom they end up spewing out of that hurt or because of the walls that we throw up in the misguided notion that it protects us. Until we recognize these symptoms and admit our need for help nothing will get better. 

God's Church is a place of healing and grace-we don't always do it perfectly, but I firmly believe that is what we still are-and we need to reach out to the harassed and helpless. True healing also requires a transparent humbling of ourselves to see that we all share that need for God's healing touch.