Pardon Me Your life is Showing

Luke 12:2
2There is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known.

In the 1970’s the slip reigned supreme as the must have accessory. Dresses were the fashion. From floor length to just under the butt check and everything in between, your dress length defined your mood. And if you were wearing a dress, you were wearing a slip of the same length. Ladies dresser drawers were filled with these unmentionables.

I had a favorite slip given to me by my grandmother. It had belonged to one of my aunts in the 1960’s. It was bright fuchsia pink with a taffeta texture. It didn’t matter what dress I was wearing I wanted to wear it under everything.

There was only one real problem with slips. Periodically they would do just that, they would slip, peeking out from the bottom of your dress. You only knew because someone would stelthfully tap you on the shoulder and whisper into your ear. “Pardon me, your slip is showing”.

At that point you would sheepishly duck into the nearest powder room and adjust your slip. Then walk out with our head held high as if nothing had happened and all was right with the world.

The slip has a very important job. It is worn to help hide flaws. It prevents the dress from clinging to your legs or from letting the sunshine through for everyone to see you in all your glory. The funny thing about the slip is everyone knows you are wearing one, yet you don’t want anyone to know. So you pretend that you don’t know that they know until you receive that little tap on the shoulder.

Our real lives are a lot like a slip. Only our real lives don’t hide our flaws, our real lives are our flaws. We hide these flaws under our Christian lives praying they won’t slip and peak out.

In our Christian lives we are perfect. We look gorgeous, our house is always clean, our bills are paid in a timely manner and our kids are angels. The heavens shine down upon us because; we reflect the complete image of Christ.

In our real lives we are sinners. Under our perfect image we are frazzled, our house is in disarray, we misplace and at times ignore the bills and our kids only listen to every other word we say. I’m pretty sure God shakes His head wondering why?

Everyone knows that we have real lives under our ridiculous sugar sweet Christian persona. You will do everything you can to keep your real life from slipping and peaking out. So you go through life pretending that you don’t know, that you know, that they know, that you have a real life. Until one day it accidentally peaks out. The problem is when your real life does slip out it is usually such a large piece of life material that you cannot just tuck it back in. Maybe someone stopped at your house unexpectedly or you lose your temper with your kids. It is at this point someone has cuffed you upside the head and yelled, “Pardon me, your life is showing”.

Take a deep breath; because I’m about to give you some advise that will help you when your life peaks out. Just be you. If you are born again, your Christian life is your real life. Stop making excuses. You are a work in progress. You will only be perfect when you reach heaven or when Christ returns. Don’t be a hypocritical Christian living one life on the inside and another on the outside. Let your life show. We are all reaching for the same goal. If we let our real lives show, maybe we can help each other make our real lives mirror the Christian lives we want people to see.

I already know, that you know, that I am not perfect. And you know, that I know, that you are not perfect. So until Christ returns, let’s let Christ be our slip and hide our flaws in Him.

Until then I’ll show you my life, if you show me yours. You may as well agree, because I already know you have one. And every so often just for fun let’s let our lives be “FUCHSIA.”