Generally speaking, vulnerability is a good thing. But, there are good ways to accomplish this and there are methods that are the making of nightmares. My most memorable experience was of the latter variety.
Church youth trips are the best way for a kid to safely let their hair down ... or to get caught with their pants down. My hair was far too curly to go anywhere but up. My pants were a different matter.
All of the guys in my youth group were involved in jokes and jests of all kinds. Our minds were involved with either creating or carrying out mayhem much of the time, especially on youth trips. One such adventure was to a youth convention in Tampa, Fla.
The problem with many youth activities is the large amount of free time that adults correctly refer to as "down" time. This is the proper term because if you give a large group of kids idle time, something is sure to go down. The gentlemen I shared a hotel room with were no exceptions to this time-honored rule.
One of the perpetrators of my soon-occurring nightmare had somehow learned the skills of both perfect timing and lock picking, which is never a good thing if you are on the wrong side of the lock, as I was. While undressing for a shower, I was innocently humming some ancient hymn whose title escapes me, but I know it was a hymn because I was on a church trip and Van Halen or Motley Crüe tunes would have given my youth pastor cardiac arrest, which he was soon to have anyway.
As I got down to my sparkling white fruit of the looms, the bathroom door suddenly burst open and Satan's minions, which were my roommates, came rushing in. Before I could respond with words that Motley Crüe would have approved of, they picked me up and unceremoniously threw my near-naked, Barney Fife frame into the hallway outside of our room and locked the door.
To say that I was panic-stricken would be like saying Mother Teresa was a good person. I was abandoned to the cold, heartless world of the formerly peaceful hotel hallway, without even my eyeglasses, which turned out to be a blessing. I found minor relief in the blur that beset my eyes as two presumably lovely young ladies came strolling towards me with uncontrollable snickering, clearly emanating from their shocked expressions.
How does a half-blind kid know these girls were shocked? Because, had I seen a twig of a boy in his underwear, ranting up and down the hall like a Tasmanian Devil, I would have been shocked. I hammered every door with my fists, hoping to locate my youth pastor, and screamed for help at the top of my lungs as if the building was on fire. Since good-looking girls were gawking at my less-than-prefect physique, I would have been thrilled for a fire so that the smoke could provide some cover for my rapidly diminishing self-esteem.
Eventually, I successfully located my beloved youth pastor's room. I commend him for keeping a straight face when opening the door and I especially commend him for opening the door. It only took a few moments for him to remind my roommates that Jesus loved me most and that he had each of their parents' phone numbers memorized. They suddenly became docile little cherubs and I gladly put some clothes on. The thought of attempting another shower was too traumatic, so I emptied a can of Right Guard deodorant into my armpits and called it a night .
I've noticed that many adults respond to vulnerability much like I did on that trip. Revealing one's true self seems too painful for public consumption and many folks prefer their "I've got it all together" masks to being seen as weak or needy. But, the Gospel proclaims us all as weak and needy. The good news is that we can find refuge and healing for our imperfections and weaknesses in the arms of Jesus.
However, He requires that we come as we are, without pretense. Whatever our struggles, hang-ups or flaws, Jesus can handle it all, but He can only clothe the naked and heal the hurting. To pretend that we are otherwise self-banishes us from the reach of His incredible grace. Authenticity opens doors of hope for us that we would otherwise miss.
Even better, we don't need to hammer away at His door because He is already knocking on ours. His love initiates our cure before we even know we are sick. So, go ahead and get real with Him, right down to your tighty whiteys. Your vulnerability is safe with Jesus because He loves you most.