Focus: The Spirituality of Nakedness

Text: Gen.3:25

"And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed."

The spirituality of nakedness involves being free and real in the presence of and in relationship with others. It is being true and having truth in the inward part of one's being. It is being open and frank, including appreciating one's strength while honestly working on one's downside. It is having a feeling of shame in wrongdoing, owning up to it and and being repentant.

Unfortunately, due to legalistic teachings, many of us are so closed up, bottled up, and held captive by the spirit of vain religiosity and dangerous ignorance. We are not really free to be free and real.

There is so much fear and unhealthy suspicion in our love. In fact, we are yet to open up to the perfect love that is possible in Christ; that love which is unfettered by fear. Sin has begotten in us a false sense of shame, and with it the process of covering one sin with another has begun to run its awful course.

We are dealing with a God who sees past all layers of covering. He is all-knowing. The Scripture says, "Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are NAKED and OPENED unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do" (Heb.4:13). Regardless of how well we are clothed physically or spiritually, we still stand naked before God. He sees everything there is to see.

Our spiritual gifts cannot be fully expressed until we are stripped bare and naked, holding nothing back, losing control to God, and releasing ourselves for God to use. It is said of Saul, "And he stripped off his clothes also, and prophesied before Samuel in like manner, and lay down NAKED all that day and all that night. Wherefore they say, Is Saul also among the prophets?" (1Sam.19:24).

It takes being naked to be useful in the hands of God. So, free yourself. Let go of self; be ready to go full throttle with God, and let Him use you mightily.

By trying to be in control of ourselves we hinder the flow of the Spirit and limit the power of God. Saul got spiritually influenced to the point that he was momentarily out of himself. We need the continuous filling of the Holy Spirit. The world around us will wonder at what we are capable of under God when we let go of ourselves.

There's something beautiful about nakedness. Job said, "Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither…" (Jb.1:21). In the age to come God will fully restore us back to our original design - to the beauty of nakedness. We'll be unable to be real and free if we lack the beauty of the soul - a Christocentric life.

Let me reemphasize, spiritual nakedness speaks of plainness, simplicity and sincerity. It means we have nothing spiritually detrimental to hide. Jesus says of Nathaniel, "Behold an Israelite indeed, in whom is no guile!" (Jh.1:47). It is from the Hebrew counterpart of the Greek word for 'guile' that the name of Jacob is derived. So, that Scripture is saying in essence, 'Here's a true Israelite in whom there's no Jacob.' Nathaniel is pure Israelite with no Jacob attached - a man simply plain and plainly simple. No egotism. One translation says, "There is an Israelite who deserves the name, incapable of deceit." Another says, "There's a real Israelite, no false bone in his body."

Interestingly, Jacob is described as a plain man in Gen.25:27. The word 'plain' in Hebrew is the same as the word 'perfect,' 'upright,' 'undefiled,' 'coupled together,' pious,' or 'gentle.' It speaks of that which is 'smooth' or 'well rounded.' No duplicity. No hocus pocus. Jacob was simple, but not sinless. He was crooked Jacob, but plain.

Our people have an adage that says, "There's nothing I am hiding inside the bundle of my firewood that should make me come into my house from the backyard." The story behind this adage is that there is a time when the king of our community makes a law that no one should go to the farm on a certain day of great event, except to go and pick up some firewood for cooking. Nothing more than that. And the king would place certain people at strategic points to ensure that the order was fully followed. But some people would go, pick up other stuff from the farm and hide them inside their bundle of firewood, and then return home, using the backyard to avoid being seen or noticed. So the adage is used as an expression of honesty and sincerity. It's like saying, 'I have nothing to hide.' Some say, 'See my armpits, there's no hair there.' The beauty of simplicity is such that "the LORD preserveth the SIMPLE: I was brought low, and he helped me" (Ps.116:6). You know, the simple is looked upon as being stupid, but the psalmist says, "The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple" (Ps.119:130).

Paul says, "But have renounced the HIDDEN THINGS of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God" (2Cor.4:2). He also said that the Lord will come, "who both will bring to light the HIDDEN THINGS OF DARKNESS, and will make MANIFEST the counsels of the hearts…" (1Cor.4:5). It takes the being of Christ at the center of the human personality for one to live out the spirituality of nakedness.

May the Lord, by this message, help us to embrace the spirituality of nakedness! We shall be better-off for it. Our peace will deepen and our wholeness realized.

by Bishop Moses E. Peter