Over the past weeks, the news in the digital world was filled with reports about unauthorized access to data systems of big companies, compromising the private info of clients and users. In other words, their computer systems were hacked. And the leading news reported the security breach of Sony and its Play Station Network (PSN). It is said that the breach exposed the personal info of over 100 million users of the PSN. Then there was the hacking of certain email accounts of senior US government officials, raising the possibility of exposing not just personal info but also national sensitive material. Before all this, there also was the news about the location tracking of certain smart phones—particularly, the iPhone and the Android.
It is no surprise that reports of this nature raise apprehension and have even caused an uproar, considering the threat of identity theft and our deep concern for privacy. We fear being too exposed to the harmful intentions of evil people. And so we build all kinds of self-protective walls.
In this world, it surely is wise to exercise watchfulness and care that we do not fall victim to malicious threats. Yet, many times, we also can go too far in our efforts at self-protection and self-preservation. We are so afraid that if people knew everything about us, they may not treat us well and use their knowledge of us to hurt us. And so we build up walls so forbidding that we keep out even those who may actually do us good and add significant benefit to our existence. And we attempt to face the challenges of life on our own, rejecting any suggestion of help.
Many relate to God in this way. They prefer to run their own lives in their own way. They dismiss any attempt of God, even through his servants, to reach out to them. But if there is anyone one who knows us best, it is God. He knows everything that can be known about us. Yes, including the worst side of us. Yet, we need not receive condemnation or harm from him but love, grace, forgiveness, and blessing. For the God who sees us as we are desires to restore us to himself and to bless us with all his goodness. That is what the gospel of Jesus is all about.
And the Lord calls on all who call themselves followers of Christ, his church, to become a community of trust with an environment of divine grace. We become that safe place where we can be transparent to each other without fear, where we can speak and receive the truth in love, where we can nurture each other toward growth and transformation of character, where we all can be everything that God intended for us to be. Then, from this safe place, we can face the challenges of this world with the full assurance that we have God and each other to sustain us.
—Keith Y. Jainga