Shame
Originally scheduled for March 14, 2010
Shame. Most of us are introduced to the idea at a
very early age in life. The dictionary tells us three things about
it:
It is an emotion,
a feeling. So it’s not the same as guilt, which is a fact
without emotion.
It often involves
others losing respect for you.
It is a sense of
unworthiness or disgrace.
Modern psychiatry evidently considers shame as
something to be, well, ashamed of. It’s a cliché that the
psychiatrist’s first question is, “Why do you feel guilty about
that?” In short, shame itself is viewed as the problem. The
solution, we are told, is counseling which will make you feel better
about yourself.
This might be a good idea if you are ashamed of
something absurd. But what if your shame is based in genuine guilt?
“Feeling better about yourself” then really translates to
self-justification and self-righteousness. It takes a clever – and
expensive – psychiatrist to get you past this. Which is why most of
us prefer hypocrisy instead; it’s much cheaper.
Communion deals with guilt and shame differently.
Communion reminds
each of us that we are, individually, sinners. Each of us
has something to be ashamed of.
Communion reminds
all of us that we are all sinners. No one has the
clean hands required to point fingers at someone else. No
one but Christ.
Christ does not
point fingers; rather, he atoned for our sins. Communion is
the reminder that he made that sacrifice for us.
The choice is simple: by psychiatry or hypocrisy you can convince
yourself of your own righteousness. Or you can accept the
righteousness of Christ. Examine yourself; accept the forgiveness
purchased at the Cross – and leave with a clean heart. The choice is
yours.
