I. Introduction
The Scare Factory illustrated in Monsters Inc. is still in full effect. However, rather than harvesting the screams of children to power the city of "Monstropolis", this scare factory harvests our peace and our sanity.
Adam and Eve fall in the Garden and believe Satan's lies and in the process, according to Romans 5:12, pass down sin and also their now captured thought processes. So, in the garden not only did we lose relationship, dominion, authority we lost our mind. Then Jesus shows up determined to restore everything we lost. You will remember that He declares we a part to play in this path to deliverance and restoration when He says in . . .
Matthew 22:37 (NIV)
Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Most of us have allowed Jesus to save our heart/soul but we haven't allowed Him to renew or redeem our mind. Paul knew this reality and declared in Romans 7:25 we serve the Lord with our mind. So, we must understand we can have a new heart and a saved soul and have the same mind.
We wrestle against principalities (principles) and so instantly they begin to think differently than they have previously. Let's go back and look at what happens and see if maybe the same monsters are prowling the recesses of your mind on a regular basis.
Genesis 2:21-25
So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. Adam and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.
3:6-11 (NIV)
When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves. Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?” He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.” And he said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?”
They eat the fruit to gain wisdom - mind power and in that moment, they are overtaken by mind monsters. I told you that one of the mind monsters that sets up rein in our mind was anxiety. Fear of something that is yet to happen. Now I want us to look at the second monster I can identify in these first few moments when our spiritual parents lost their minds.
Verse 7 - At that moment their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness.
I believe that in that one moment one of the principles that has been established in our mind is the principle (mind monster) of shame.
Look at their immediate response. They recognize the nakedness, cover themselves and hide.
They confuse a proper reaction of guilt and allow the monster of shame to overtake them instead. They have sinned. Guilt is acceptable. Guilt is an appropriate reaction to an action. Guilty is what I am when I sin. Guilt is responsibility. Shame, however, is identity based. They move from doing wrong, feeling wrong to thinking wrong. It isn't I did something bad I am bad. What I do is who I am. it is I am naked. So, now I am unworthy of the relationship I once had and enjoyed. They move from doing wrong to believing they are what they have done.
Isn't that how shame works? We get trapped by what happened to us and allow what happened to us last year, 5 years ago, 10 years ago, 30 years ago to label us and we become trapped. We can't believe that it was just something we did or something that was done to us and instead we become convinced that is who we are . . . Woman with the issue of blood. Our issue becomes our identity.
And the real problem with the monster of shame is what it leads to. It leads to us trying to cover ourselves. How do we cover ourselves? From the Genesis account, I can identify at least two ways we hide. Let's see if maybe you can identify. Let's see if maybe you are doing one of these things right now.
Shame leads to games.
Shame causes Adam and Eve to try to cover themselves. They are trying to perform. To live up to being worthy. To present themselves as covered. You could call that perfectionism. I have to fake it till I make it. I have to act like I have it all together. I have to prove I am good enough. Shame leads to us trying to cover ourselves. Presentable. Shame leads us to play games. I have to get my game going. I have to prove I am something I know I am not. Smoke and mirrors. If I am successful, I will be enough. If I am rich, I will be enough. If I am applauded, I will be enough. If I am punctual, I will be enough. I am I am caught up I will be enough. I got game man! My goodness will cover my shame. My efforts. My design. We discover like Adam and Eve that it doesn't work. It just gives a place for a mind monster to hide.
Shame leads to blame.
It leads to Adam blames God. I wouldn't have done this if you hadn't given me this woman. It is your fault God. I wouldn't be an abuser if God would have . . . I wouldn't be a drunkard if God would have . . . I wouldn't have gone into this deep of debt if God would have . . . Then Adam blames Eve. It wasn't me it was her. I wouldn't be a porn addict if so and so hadn't shown me that. I wouldn't be a glutton if so and so hadn't fed me that. I wouldn't be a cheater if so and so would have modeled that for me. Then Eve blames the snake. When we have blamed everyone else for our actions and can't find anyone else . . . The devil made me do it. We become covered in criticism. We never own anything. We cover ourselves in criticizing everyone else and blaming everyone else. I can promise you someone that has a good blame game is covering themselves. They are probably fighting shame!
Shame is destroyed when you are unwilling to hide.
You know you are in bondage to shame when you try to cover what He already sees. Adam - hear his shame response - I was naked! God responds by asking "Who told you that you were naked?" Notice He didn't first address their nakedness. He instead addresses the origin of that knowledge. He deals with their nakedness as a given. In other words, He had already seen their nakedness. They were already exposed to Him. They are now embarrassed by what He had already seen. They were uncomfortable with what He was comfortable with! So, we can determine that the only thing that produces shame in us is what think we hide from Him. What we are hiding becomes leverage used by the enemy of our soul to keep us distanced from God. What we hide become a wedge between us and God. He sees it but we destroy shame when we acknowledge that He sees is and we refuse to try to play hide and seek with Him. We live open and transparent before Him and before those He has placed in our life.
James sees the connection. Remember what he writes in James 5:16? Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.
Our ability to live whole, healed, shame free is linked to our willingness to live unhidden and uncovered. Could it be that we have limited the healing that comes from confession to physical healing when James is trying to teach us that confession also brings healing to a sickness called shame?
Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed. Maybe the reason some of us aren't living whole is because we are living hidden. Shame keeps us in shadow land. No one ever really gets a glimpse of the real you. And our belief that what we have done or has been done to us is who we are keeps us distanced from God and from those around us! It is time to destroy the mind monster of shame by coming out of hiding. Come out come out wherever you are! Too many of us get redeemed and we become a recluse. Too many of us get saved and then we become secret! Healing comes when we refuse to hide.
Shame is destroyed when you no longer focus on actions but on relationship.
They were fixated on what they had done rather than on who they are. Notice that first thing God asks after they fall is this . . . He asks, "Where are you?" That is a positional question. He didn't ask first . . . "What did you do?" God's attention wasn't riveted on their actions as much as it was on their location - separated, hidden, at a distance rather than waiting for their walk. Shame causes us to focus on our actions and forget to focus on our position. What is our position in Christ?
Colossians 1:22 – Even though you were once distant from him, living in the shadows of your evil thoughts and actions, he reconnected you back to himself. He released his supernatural peace to you through the sacrifice of his own body as the sin-payment on your behalf so that you would dwell in his presence. And now there is nothing between you and Father God, for he sees you as holy, flawless, and restored.
Galatians 4:5-7 – Yet all of this was so that he would redeem and set free those held hostage to the law so that we would receive our freedom and a full legal adoption as his children. And so that we would know that we are his true children, God released the Spirit of Sonship into our hearts—moving us to cry out intimately, “My Father! My true Father!” Now we’re no longer living like slaves under the law, but we enjoy being God’s very own sons and daughters! And because we’re his, we can access everything our Father has—for we are heirs because of what God has done!
You have to know who you are more than you know what you did. If our relationship is right, then our actions follow. If my relationship is right with you as a friend, then there is no fear that I will steal from you. If my relationship is right with Julie, then there is no fear that I will cheat on her. If my relationship is right with my boss is right, then there is no fear that will sluff off and not down honest day of work. Position assures condition. Shame tries to get us to forget our position.
Shame is destroyed when we remember that God can't remember.
Shame is overcome when we realize that God's memory is not as long as our own. Repentance causes God to be forget full!
Psalm 103:11-12 - For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
Hebrews 8:12 - And I will be merciful to them in their wrongdoings, and I will remember their sins no more.” (They’ll get to know me by being kindly forgiven, with the slate of their sins forever wiped clean.)
Hebrews 10:10, 14 - Under this new plan we have been forgiven and made clean by Christ’s dying for us once and for all. And by his one perfect sacrifice he made us perfectly holy and complete for all time!
We have correctly tried to get us to increase our understanding and appreciation for God’s ability and power and in the process, we have misinformed you to your own demise. We have said and proclaimed that there’s nothing God can’t do. But in that statement, we have failed to teach you that there is something God can’t do! When we repent, He cannot remember! His forget fullness should destroy shame in our mind.
Shame brings our sin to our mind. Our mind is full of it. So, we conclude that His mind must be full of it as well! We bring it up and His response is always, "What you talkin’ about!"
I told you Jesus arrives on the scene trying to deal with more than just our heart and soul. He desires to give us back our mind. Let me quickly remind you of one instance when this so clearly seen.
Legion –Talk about a candidate for shame. Jew living in cemetery which makes him unclean to friends, family, community. He should be filled with shame because of his actions. He has injured neighbors, scared neighbors, cursed friends, attacked innocents. He is naked. He is out of control. He is unrestrainable. He drags the broken chains of previous attempts to harness his anger around like puppet strings. He is isolated. He is separated. He is an outcast. A reject. Damaged. Deranged. He is out of his mind. But he is in the mind of Jesus. Jesus, in Luke 8, gets on a boat makes the journey across the 8-mile width of the Sea of Galilee. Gets out of the boat, encounters this mind monster filled man and casts the demons out of him. Notice what Scripture then says . . . and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Before we go any further can I just tell you that there are people in your life that are more comfortable with you when you are bound than when you are free! There are people who prefer the bound version of you, the high version of you, the depressed version of you, the shame filled version of you. They have grown comfortable with your bondage because it makes their chains more bearable. But now this man is clothed and in his right mind! No shame. No embarrassment. No hanging his head. Why? Because by Jesus next actions which was to immediately to get back in the boat and to go back across the Sea, we must conclude that Jesus came all that way for one man! Jesus will go out of His way just for him.
Some of you are bound. Living like you don't want to live. Separated. Isolated. Avoided. Damaged. Deranged. Full of despair. Every attempt at freedom has been for naught. No assistance available from anyone. Restraint seems to be your only option. Shame and embarrassment are constant companions. You have hurt yourself and you have injured others. But I came to encourage you this morning that Jesus came all the way across the divide of eternity from heaven just so that He could walk into the nightmare of your shame-controlled life. He did that so that He could do more than just save you. He did that so that you could be clothed with His righteousness and His forgetfulness. He did that so you can be clothed/covered. He did that so that you can be in right mind. He did that so that you could overcome a shame full life.
