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Written by Ryan Showalter
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 Recently a seminary professor asked me to name one area of my life that I wanted to work on where there was sin I needed to address. The reality was that I was dumbfounded; I couldn’t think of one. I sat there, cold and blank. He pushed further, “If you want to grow in your walk with the Lord, you are going to have to start the hard work of asking God to reveal areas he wants to work on.” As I prayed, God was faithful and began to reveal things in my life.
My story parallels that of the Prodigal Son. At different points in my life I have found myself oscillating between being the older son and the younger son. I believe that both sons sinned. They wanted their father’s inheritance more than they wanted a relationship with him. The younger son sinned by leaving his father and squandering his inheritance. He came to his senses, saw his life as it really was, and returned home. The older son refused his father’s generous heart; he sinned in wanting the inheritance only for himself. He disregarded his relationship with his father, and refused to repent.
When I forget my frailty and my need of the Father, I slowly move from being the younger son (in need of his father) to being the self righteous son who thought he knew better than his father. My professor’s challenge allowed me to hear God’s voice and to clearly see my own my inability to be fully transparent, to see myself as I really am.
Transparency with others and with ourselves moves us from being the older brother and reminds us that we really are the Prodigal and in need of saving. I have been working on trying to be more transparent. Admitting I’m wrong, which happens more than I like to admit, is still hard. How do I confess my weaknesses and then seek to change them? Change isn’t easy. Change takes work.
I think one of the keys to revival and renewal of the church today will come through our ability to be transparent. It forces us to see ourselves as we really are, to grapple with our need for God. We need to be authentic and transparent in front of people. God commands us, “Confess your sins to one another and you shall be healed.” I believe part of the reason we don’t see more life in our churches is due to a lack of transparency and confession in the body.
So please forgive me as I seek to be more transparent. Forgive me as I learn what it means to be a missionary everywhere God places me, especially to those who are different from me, even when it is across the table at Thanksgiving. Forgive me as I struggle and learn what it means to step out in faith, to recognize my own sin, to confess, and follow God. I keep making mistakes as I go, but I am also convinced that Father is there waiting for me with open arms.
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Positions Available
Join StaffX at the Harrisburg Discipleship Center to grow spiritually and in leadership skills as you mentor and serve others. Current volunteer staff openings: Community Outreach Coordinator, Mission Mobilizer, Office Assistant, and Prayer Coordinator.
Contact Sherrie Ober if you are interested.
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