A friend and I were having a conversation the other day and talking about some things that were said to her about sharing about her life before she became a follower of Jesus. She was sharing with me that she was told she shouldn't really share about her past or current struggles because "what if others found out?"
When asked how this conversation impacted her, she told me that she felt shamed and like she couldn't talk about life before Jesus and needed to keep current struggles hidden.
Friends, that isn't the Gospel at all. Here is what the Gospel is:
1 Corinthians 15:1-5
Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2 and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you—unless you believed in vain.
3 For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5 and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve
And
Colossians 3:1-3
If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. 3 For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.
Because of God's ridiculous love for us [check out Romans 8 or the entire Bible to see what I'm talkin' about], He adopted us and made us coheirs with His Son, Jesus. So when we decide to follow Jesus, we are in a brand new identity with Christ, no longer who we were. When He rose from the grave, He defeated death and all the ratchetness it holds. Not because of our ability to try our hardest and do our best to look like we're perfect and never struggle. Honestly, I think that makes us more of a ratchet mess than we were to begin with. He defeated death and gave us new identity because of who He is... which if you didn't know this already He's pretty rad.
Is there a context for talking about our pasts or current struggles? Yes. I'm not saying we just throw everything out there for everyone for all time. However, we should never pervert or cheapen the powerful work of Christ by acting or leading others to act like we have it all together and never struggle with anything. The point of the Gospel is Jesus, and following Him doesn't mean we don't struggle, it just means that through the struggle we look to and follow Jesus.
As my conversation ended with this friend the question was posed: "So what? So what if people find out about your past? Don't deny that at one time that is who you were; but proclaim who you are now because Christ defeated death and your identity lies with Him".
After Saul became Paul and spent time with the disciples, Acts 9:20-22 says:
20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?” 22 But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.
We should not live in shame about our lives before Christ. He bore our pasts and current struggles on the cross. He died. He rose again and defeated death. We can walk in our new identity with Him and proclaim He is Jesus. The point of the Gospel is Jesus, and following Him means we've been set free and can tell others that who we are now isn't who we've always been, and that's a beautiful thing to talk about! Proclaim Jesus, friends.
