Huh. To further explain this, I just now decided to look up both in the dictionary. Interesting. I'm that guy..."Let's define this," ....But no seriously, let's define it so that there isn't any gray area. I like black and white, not gray.
I think that this definition best describes what I'm thinking of with censoring:
— vb
5. to ban or cut portions of (a publication, film, letter, etc)
Ok, and now sugarcoating:
2. to make (something difficult or distasteful) appear more pleasant or acceptable
Mmm. Alright. So when you censor yourself, you cut out the bad stuff. You just take it out. With sugarcoating, you just dress up the bad stuff to make it more acceptable.
I think sugarcoating is crap. I can't stand it. LIFE IS NOT SUGARCOATED. Yet here we are, trying to make it look more peachy on the outside. It reminds me of the Pharisees cups, but I want to save that passage for another post I have in mind. However, the verse is Luke 11:39 if you really just want to go take a gander at it.
I recently met this guy that one of my friends was wanting to set me up with, which was super sweet of her and I was flattered, but the guy also knew that I was a friend of hers from our Journey Group. Journey Group is Bible study basically. So after I met him, he told my friend he didn't want to talk to me "because he was afraid he would corrupt me."
I had to laugh at that. How sweet of him! He must think I'm naive...or sheltered? HA! I'm sitting here writing this and I just smile remembering that. Silly.
Now, when I met him, he was talking about how he was good at partying and wanted to party all the time and this and that, and I had thought about it later, and I really just wanted to ask him, "What's REALLY going on?" And no, don't sugarcoat it. I just said I can't stand that. If we were talking, I don't even want you to censor yourself. I think a lot gets lost in translation if people feel the need to censor themselves, and I've lived in this world for almost 24 years and can I just say, it's not new to me.
Anyway, back to where I'm going with this. There is this beautiful story in Luke 7:36-50 that I can really identify with, and yes I will share it all because I am not comfortable with paraphrasing at this point. It's all important. Don't be a baby it's not that long.
Jesus Anointed by a Sinful Woman
36 One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat.[a] 37 When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful alabaster jar filled with expensive perfume. 38 Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet, and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them.
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”
40 Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”
“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.
41 Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver[b] to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”
43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”
“That’s right,” Jesus said. 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.
47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” 48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”
50 And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
39 When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!”
40 Then Jesus answered his thoughts. “Simon,” he said to the Pharisee, “I have something to say to you.”
“Go ahead, Teacher,” Simon replied.
41 Then Jesus told him this story: “A man loaned money to two people—500 pieces of silver[b] to one and 50 pieces to the other. 42 But neither of them could repay him, so he kindly forgave them both, canceling their debts. Who do you suppose loved him more after that?”
43 Simon answered, “I suppose the one for whom he canceled the larger debt.”
“That’s right,” Jesus said. 44 Then he turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume.
47 “I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love.” 48 Then Jesus said to the woman, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The men at the table said among themselves, “Who is this man, that he goes around forgiving sins?”
50 And Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
I read this, and I get so choked up sometimes. Silly Simon. "If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!" OOOOHHH SHE'S A SINNER!!!!
Jesus knew that. Jesus knows that. He even says, "I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven..." I like how He added in there that her sins were many, and how that's still ok. We don't need to try to clean ourselves up, or sugarcoat anything when it comes to being real with Him. Jesus knows what FILTH you are trying to sugarcoat. He also knows what you don't even want to admit to Him. You just want to leave it out.
Well guess what? HE ALREADY KNOWS!!!! He sees you every single day at every moment of the day and YES He sees you in the bathroom and you are nasty! But He loves you anyway. He loved that super sinful woman anyway. You can fall at His feet, weeping because of the weight of your sins is SO heavy -I know, I've been there- and Jesus will say to you, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
It's really a beautiful place to be, at the feet of Jesus.
So, what's REALLY going on? Don't sugarcoat it for Him, He already knows. But I can tell you that if you don't sugarcoat it, shoot don't even censor yourself, it will be for YOUR benefit, and He will become that much more real, instead of this detached image of a god sitting up on a cloud watching you. Jesus is personal.
What's REALLY going on? Tell Him.
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