So, Delilah said to Samson, “Please tell me what makes your strength so great, and how you could be bound, so that one could subdue you.” Judges 16:6
The hero’s fatal flaw makes the best and most memorable story. After all, we often spend our lives attempting to climb various ladders of success, eventually recognizing the great personal cost and incredible responsibility that such an ascent requires. The work reveals our greatest strengths and our most debilitating weaknesses. Every day, we hear and see evidence of how powerful individuals fall, really, quite easily, quite quickly. The writers of Judges knew this truth and shared it honestly, openly that we might learn from such stories and maybe, just maybe, not replicate the hero’s foibles.
Who you surround yourself with makes a difference in how you perceive things. Your social peers often shape your understandings of the world and even your own life. Our culture saturates us with perceptions based on inherent lies. Lies that say we are not enough. Lies that say we deserve better. Lies that say what we want exceeds in importance what we need. Like Samson, if we isolate ourselves, we lose the strength that comes with community.
How wonderful it is to have a gospel that grounds us in the truly important things, to have a Savior that leads us through the lies to a grace-filled life. As the church, we function as an alternative to our common culture. Together we proclaim that in Christ we are all enough. In Christ, we have what we need, and we help those in need. In Christ, we have but one desire, to seek unity with God in all we do.
Pray that we might be bold in befriending those who come to us seeking what Christ has to offer for their lives, knowing that we are called not to judge but to encourage and to witness with honesty and grace.
Rev, Janet Stilwell, Associate Pastor, Wildwood UMC
