Like the pine trees lining the winding road
I got a name, I got a name…
Like the fool I am and I’ll always be
I’ve got a dream, I’ve got a dream…
Moving me down the highway, rolling me down the highway
Moving ahead so life won’t pass me by
—Jim Croce, I Got a Name
Sheryl Crow says, “every day is a winding road” and that’s definitely been my experience in trying to move ahead, pursue dreams, and distance myself from roots tied to South Jersey’s pines and, unfortunately, lots of sad and bitter memories. Perhaps you’ve struggled in similar ways.
Although many have scars greater than our own, make no mistake: formative experiences of shame, distorted ideas, trauma, as well those that are consequences of our own foolish choices can have a devastating impact on our view of self. Barring God himself, as the late Emil Brunner said:
“The most powerful of all spiritual forces is a man’s view of himself, the way in which he understands his nature and his destiny, indeed it is the one force which determines all the others which influence human life.”
Bruce Waltke, Genesis, A Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2001), 67.
So how do we get rid of stinkin’ thinkin’ and all forms of self-loathing? How do we work in synch with God to recapture and restore our heart? It starts with remembering, but it’s a biblical kind of remembering. In Scripture, remembering results in a return to faithful obedience. Mere cognition or recall is never enough, but that’s where change starts. For example, in a context that’s about turning hearts back to God’s ancient paths, look at how the prophet Malachi points to hope in the face of impending judgment:
“Remember the law of my servant Moses, the statutes and rules that I commanded him at Horeb for all Israel.”
Malachi 4:4, ESV
The journey back for Malachi’s readers came through remembering significant events that are connected to historical people and places. In this passage, the person recalled is “Moses,” and the place is Mount “Horeb” (4). Old Testament scholar David Baker notes that “Horeb” is an “alternative name for Mount Sinai (Ex 33:6; Sir 48:7) . . . it is the place where Israel became a nation, since there they received their ‘constitution,’ the law of Moses (Ex 19–24), as well as various other instructions on how to live as a people under the authority of God (Ex 25–Num. 10:10).”[1] Thus, Israel has an amazing identity, but they have forgotten it. This forgetfulness is part of what has led to their wandering and disobedience.
One might recall the remembering of Simba in Disney’s The Lion King. Influenced by the lies of his Uncle Scar, Simba left the paradisal existence associated with Pride Rock to wander the jungle and wastelands. Later confronted by the wise, albeit eccentric, baboon witch doctor named Rafiki (meaning “friend”), Simba comes to a riverbank where he looks down and sees both his and his late father, Mufasa’s, reflections in the water. He then looks up in the sky and sees a vision of his father. His father, who loved him dearly, says, “Remember, you are more than what you have become.” At this place of repentance, Simba turns from his shadow self, rejects the lies of his Uncle Scar, and returns to Pride Rock to embrace his destiny as the Lion King.
What about you? Have you forgotten your name? In Revelation 1:5-6, the apostle John reminds us that the creator of the universe loves us and has freed us from our sins by the blood of Christ. Further, he has made all those who receive this good news “a kingdom, priests to his God and Father…”
But someone might say, “We can repent of sin but what do we do with shame?” Or, to make the question even more clear, “We can repent of our own sins but what do we do with shame from sins inflicted on us by others?”
This is an excellent question, as shame is a complex topic and shedding its’ cloak requires therapy for many. Yet, the answer—the one that leads to healing—still involves “remembering”. Like Jim Croce’s lyric above, because of the cross, those in Christ have a name. Here is how one respected counselor put it:
“The person who labors under a false sense of shame and guilt because of the sins of others against her needs more than affirmation and boosts to her self-esteem. She needs to see that the cross clarifies that she is responsible only for her own sins, not the sins of others that have so deeply wounded her. God’s view of sin lifts her shame and self-loathing by giving her an identity that is rooted in Christ, not in the evil she has experienced.”
Timothy Lane and Paul Tripp, How People Change (Greensboro: New Growth Press, 2006), 23.
[1] Baker, The NIV Application Commentary, 206.