At The Brook we believe that Christian community is not just something important to do, but rather it goes to the very heart of who we are— both individually and corporately. If the church is anything, it is a community of people who care for one another and grow with one another. Without these experiences we’re not really the church at all (Acts 2:42-47). The church, as God designed, offers such a unique opportunity as compared to today’s world. We are to provide a safe place for people to be accepted and to fully experience their human design for relationship with others. All of us were created for community!
Yet, this can be rather intimidating for some. Particularly for those who have never known such relationships in their lives, or have experienced hurt and rejection.
You see, as we grow up and interact with others, we innately and subconsciously ask ourselves an important question. This question was present the first time another child took a toy from us in the nursery. It was present the first time we were pushed down or bullied on the playground. It was there the first time we felt romantic love for another person only to be rejected by them. It was present when those we thought we could trust hurt us. It even remains present today when we have an argument with our spouse, feel betrayal from a friend, or are ignored by a group to whom we hope to belong.
That question is, “Why have relationships?” Because while relationships can be fulfilling, they can also hurt at times and be rather messy. Are they worth the risk?
Some have resolved this question in a positive way. While certainly having their share of relational disappointments, the warmth and power of human intimacy has made relationships still worthwhile. Others, who struggle with innate fear or who have been rejected or harmed by another, have chosen to withdraw. For them, the risk is not worth the reward.
The Bible has a rather clear answer to the question: “Why have relationships?” The answer is simply this—because God made us this way. The need for love and intimacy is a part of our very nature. It is hard-wired into our humanness by God.
The desire to know and be known, and to love and be loved, is uniquely human. It is what sets us apart from all the rest of the animal world and creation. Community with others involves a depth, quality, and vitality of a relationship with other humans.
Since this is true one might ask… Is a person then who does not experience community truly human?” Well, is an airplane really an airplane if it never flies? Is a piano a piano if it never plays music? Both the plane and the piano have the design of their creation. They “look the part”. Yet while they have the form, they lack the function and the fulfillment for which they were created.
What about for us? Since we were designed for it, and since it is unique to our humanness, are we not somewhat less-than-human when we don’t experience community? These are fair questions once we understand the very way that God created us.
In Genesis, the Bible explains that God made Adam from the dust of the ground and into him breathed life. Adam lived in the Garden of Eden and was assigned the task of stewarding all that was in the garden- plants and animals alike. In this place Adam existed in perfect harmony with God and his environment. He experienced life in full relationship to his Creator. He had purpose, industry and function. It seems this is all Adam would need.
But God looks at Adam and says, “It is not good for the man to be alone” (Genesis 2:18). Well, I thought he wasn’t alone? After all, he had God. He had the garden. He had the animals. Yet, God described Adam as “alone”. In other words, there was no one else like Adam in all creation and God said this arrangement was not good.
So God takes one of Adam’s ribs and fashions a woman from it. God presents her to Adam and when Adam saw her he celebrated…
“This is now bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
she shall be called ‘woman,’
for she was taken out of man.” (Genesis 2:23)
And in a very short but profound statement, the Bible depicts the nature of their relationship… “The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame.” (Genesis 2:25)
Obviously this was more than physical nakedness. They were exposed physically, emotionally and spiritually. Here at that time was a perfect human relationship to cap off everything else whole and ideal in that setting. Adam and Eve’s relationship in this moment might be characterized as loving, trusting, peaceful, free, and sinless.
From the phrase “they felt no shame” we see the true emphasis of the passage… these human beings felt safe.
While I know this is describing the marriage relationship, the principle is the same. We were created for community!
However, we read in Chapter 3 that something tragic occurs. The woman was tempted by the serpent and ate fruit from the forbidden tree. She then presented the fruit to Adam and he ate. As a result, both were disobedient and rebellious to the clear command of God. Sin now entered the world and it impacted not only Adam and Eve’s relationship to God, but also their relationship to one another. Once they sinned the Bible says they immediately did four things: they hid from one another, they hid from God, they blamed others for their sin, and they made fig leaves for themselves.
Genesis 3:7 describes their new disposition… “Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.”
Certainly this is figurative language. Their eyes were open physically before. However, now they see things they had never seen before. They now knew that they had the capacity within themselves to sin, i.e. to rebel against God and bring harm to one another. Where once there was perfection, now there was sin. Where once there was peace, now conflict. Where once there was safety and freedom, now fear was present. Where once openness and vulnerability, there now existed concealment and secrecy. So, they recoiled and hid from one another.
The Bible also says they made fig leaves and covered themselves with them. The fig leaf provided more than a physical covering. Consistent with the figurative language in the passage, we may assume both a physical and symbolic theme. The fig leaf was a man-made substitute for all the acceptance, openness and vulnerability they possessed before the sin.
The Bible then describes a rather moving scene. God comes into the garden and the Bible says, “…the LORD God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’ He answered, ‘I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.’” (Genesis 3:9-10).
As omniscient creator, God knew what had occurred and knew where Adam and Eve were located. Then why did God ask? God asked this question not for His own sake, but for Adam’s. He wanted Adam to admit where he was and the height from which he had fallen. Here, where once Adam was connected and open to his loving Creator, he was now hiding from Him in the bushes. Obviously, Adam and Eve not only hid from each other, but also from God.
God then inquires how such a rebellion could take place. Adam blames Eve, Eve blames the serpent and neither takes responsibility for their sinful choice.
So here are the results of sin. Results that still exist today. Think about it? When we rebel against God, when we sin against and bring harm to another, or are harmed by another, what do we do? We do what Adam and Eve did…
We hide from each other
Rather than openness and vulnerability, we feel fear. We sense great risk now in emotionally exposing ourselves to others, so we recoil. We begin to keep secrets and conceal the truth about who we are. We determine that we will not allow another individual to harm us, so we conceal the deeper parts of who we are (our fears, passions, and desires) and withhold expressions that might make us susceptible to hurt. Rather than move toward the other person, we run away from them and cover. The relationship now feels rather unsafe— so we conceal and cover.
We hide from God
Admitting to God what is true about us in the form of shame is rather frightening. He is holy, perfect, and just. God might reject us as well. So, rather than admit what is obviously true and what the omniscient God already knows, we play a game of suppression and self-deceit. The idea here is if we ignore it (our sin and shame) it will go away. So we choose not to speak the truth to ourselves and to God, and we drift from the life-giving relationship that should be ours with our Creator.
We blame others
Rather than take responsibility for our sin, we blame our sinful choices on the other person who may have rejected or harmed us. “They hurt me” or “They made me angry” or “If they hadn’t done this, then I wouldn’t have done that.” Even when someone has harmed us, we all have a choice in response. Adam blamed Eve and even God for his choice to eat the fruit (“…the woman YOU gave me”). Eve blamed the serpent. Neither took any responsibility for what they did. We do the same. While the sin of the other person was indeed not our responsibility; what we did in response to their sin certainly was.
We create and connect to fig leaves
As mentioned, the fig leaf for Adam and Eve was a man-made substitute for God’s ideal. It served to cover their shame and hide what was true about them. Whereas God designed Adam and Eve to connect intimately with their Creator and each other, their sin led them to fashion and fixate on a mere semblance— something man-made— a replacement for what God designed.
The figurative fig leaf is just as alive today as it was in the Garden of Eden. Consequently, a fig leaf is anything I connect with that conceals my real self from others and from God.
Instead of finding true human fulfillment in relationship to God and each other, in today’s world we settle for fig leaves. We do so out of fear, or shame, or because someone severely hurt us. So we promise ourselves we will not risk again or be hurt again. We chose to live “safe” lives without human community and with a fig leaf instead— a possibly safer, but ultimately lonely experience.
Notice this truth as found in the Genesis account: We cannot not connect. Which means if we don’t connect to God and we don’t connect to other human beings, we will connect to something. That something becomes for us our fig leaf- a rather superficial, external and man-made substitute for community. Through fig leaves we substitute human and divine love for superficial connections and concealment.
Fig leaves come in the form of physical addictions, external appearances, achievements, titles, material possessions, status symbols, and power.
We work hard for fig leaves, we go into debt for them, and we compare our fig leaves with those of others. Fig leaves are deceitful and dysfunctional ways for us to feel good about ourselves. Rather than people seeing the real us (which can be risky or shameful), we prefer they see a fig leaf instead. This is one reason why the internet, with all its advantages, can
actually undermine community. It can be a “faceless community” built only
upon images and facades.
Even people may become fig leaves to us when relationships with them are used for purposes other than spiritual and emotional intimacy (sex, codependence, manipulation of others for selfish purposes, etc.).
Often, we wear religious fig leaves. These we present before God hoping that He will like the well-maintained, well-managed image. Religion, spiritual language, Bible knowledge, and even good works can become fig leaves we hold up to a holy and perfect God— they may become the way to hide from Him our true self.
Since fig leaves are not the real deal, in time they create problems. Fig leaves must be managed, propped up, refinanced, and even exchanged for new ones when existing ones become inadequate. This takes much effort. So, rather than give life, fig leaves drain us. Since they are a fake, fig leaves rob us of the experience of knowing truly who we are and experiencing the fulfillment that comes by actualizing our true self in the world. Since they stand in the way of others and God seeing our true self, fig leaves prevent us from experiencing that deepest part of our unique human creation… the ability to love and be loved, to know and be known.
Continuing in Genesis 3, the Creator bans the couple from the Garden of Eden and assigns curses to them as well as to all mankind and womankind. Men are cursed to work by the sweat of their brow, and women are cursed to experience the pain associated with childbirth. The consequences of their sin are real. It causes separation and suffering.
But reading into the latter part of the chapter, God does something often overlooked, but truly amazing. God now does for Adam and Eve what they were unwilling to do themselves and His actions serve as a model for us today of how to create and exist in relational intimacy even in the midst of a sin-stained world.
The Bible says that God takes an animal and kills it. You can imagine the shock of Adam and Eve as they witness the bloodshed of the innocent creature and realize that their sin caused it. The Genesis account does not specify the type of animal killed. For many reasons, we may assume that it was a lamb.
So God takes the skin of the animal and uses it as a covering for Adam and Eve. In exchange for the fig leaves, God provides an alternative- one that supplies protection and warmth, and covers their nakedness. Adam and Eve let go of the fig leaves and take hold of God’s provision.
This exchange between God and His human creation speaks volumes. In essence, through the provision of this lamb God does the opposite of what Adam and Eve did. The man and woman hide; God comes seeking. Adam and Even run from each other and God; God moves toward them. The man and woman blame others for their sin; God assigns guilt where it’s due but then assumes responsibility for it by shedding innocent blood. Through the fig leaf Adam and Eve conceal what is true and shameful; God exposes their sin, but then covers their shame through the lamb. Notice the difference between Adam and Eve's response (i.e., mankind's response) to sin and rejection, and God's...
MANKIND GOD
Hides Seeks
Runs away Moves toward
Blames Assumes Responsibility
Conceals their shame Covers their shame
The contrast is startling and illustrates the ways we are to experience love and intimacy today after the fall. You see there is no such thing now as a perfect human being. In the garden, Adam and Eve knew no sin. Now however, we live in a world plagued with it. Since there are no perfect people, there are no sin-free, perfect relationships. Likewise, there is no such thing as approaching God without sin. We must all bring to Him and each other the truth about who we are as sinful human beings. This garden is no more.
On this side of it we must find a different way to achieve the love and intimacy for which we were all designed. We must look not to the Garden of Eden, but to the Garden of Gethsemane. The Garden of Eden is a garden of perfection. The Garden of Gethsemane is a garden of redemption. This garden is the place where the Innocent Lamb was sacrificed as well. This garden is the place where God moved toward us, not away. This is the place where once again God sought us even as we hid from Him. This is the place where He assigns the guilt of sin, yet assumes responsibility to do something about it. This is a place where rather than merely conceal our sin and shame, He covers what is exposed and what is true about us by the blood of the Lamb.
Through Jesus, God says to you and me, “Give me that fig leaf you’re wearing- that frail and pathetic substitute for your true design. Reveal your real self to me. Come naked before me- shame and all. Give me that fig leaf, and I will cover your shame through the sacrifice of the Innocent.”
So now, love in Gethsemane means relationships with God and others not based upon perfection, but on forgiveness. Where I don’t love others because they are perfect, instead like Christ, I love others in spite of the fact they are not. This is a human love and intimacy where I can let go of my fig leaf, reveal the true me (shame and all), and find another person who does the same. And when sin comes (and it will), we do what God did for us— not hide, not run away, not blame… but move toward, reveal (not conceal), and take responsibility to confess my sin in order to find a covering for shame. Where in the exchange of fig leaves, a warm protective covering (rather than shame and exposure) is experienced. This is love on this side of the garden and on this side of the cross. Here exist not relationships of perfection, but relationships of redemption. Where despite my sin and shame, I feel safe. The love and intimacy of the Garden of Eden is what we were made for. Through the Garden of Gethsemane, we may return there once again.
We were made for community! And the church of God is the place in today’s world where authentic community can and should happen. The place where we will chose to be real with one another and experience the life-giving power of community. The place where, in the appropriate circles with people who love as Christ did, we can let go of those fig leaves and find a covering for shame.
I’m thankful that The Brook is that kind of place. May the Lord help us to continue to be!
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