“Were they ashamed because they had committed disgusting and vile things? No, they were not at all ashamed; They did not even know how to blush [at their idolatry]. Therefore they will fall among those who fall; At the time that I punish them They will be overthrown,” says the Lord. (Jeremiah 6:15 AMP)
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This story by Heather Joas on social media caught my attention. Perhaps you would see my reaction as being of an old fuddy-duddy, or perhaps you have been feeling this way for decades. Either way, perhaps it is time we as a culture rediscover appropriate boundaries and even mild shame for sin. What would we be like if were understood the weight of God’s holiness?
My son and I were laughing in the kitchen this morning when he said something about, “That’ll make somebody blush.”
And I laughed, but then as I was eating and reflecting on it the thought sat with me a little longer than expected. Because honestly? I haven’t even heard the word itself in forever. I am not sure we really blush much anymore. Not as a culture.
There was a time when certain things made people look down. Certain words made people shift in their seat. Certain behavior carried a weight to it. Certain lines were understood without needing to be explained. But somewhere along the way, we stopped blushing.
We normalized the crude.
We normalized the vulgar.
We normalized the extreme.
We normalized disrespect.
We normalized public shame.
We normalized private sin.
We normalized conversations that used to make people uncomfortable for a reason.
And now we call conviction “judgment.”
We call modesty “insecurity.”
We call boundaries “being sheltered.”
We call restraint “being boring.”
We call shame “toxic,” even when what we are really feeling is the mercy of God trying to wake something up in us.
And no, I am not talking about walking around buried under condemnation. That is not the heart of God. But there is a difference between living under shame and losing the ability to feel ashamed.
One is bondage.
The other is numbness.
And I think that is where a lot of us are.
Numb.
Numb to what we watch.
Numb to what we say.
Numb to what we laugh at.
Numb to what we tolerate.
Numb to what we expose our children to.
Numb to what we call normal because everybody else is doing it too.
Jeremiah 6:15 says, “Were they ashamed when they committed abomination? No, they were not at all ashamed; they did not know how to blush.”
They did not know how to blush. That line stopped me. Because blushing is not just embarrassment. Sometimes blushing is evidence that your conscience is still alive.
It means something in you still responds.
It means your spirit has not been completely desensitized.
It means there is still a tenderness there.
It means the line has not fully disappeared.
And I wonder how many lines have disappeared because we kept stepping over them slowly.
Not all at once.
Just little by little.
A joke here.
A show there.
A conversation we should have walked away from.
A compromise we called harmless.
A conviction we silenced because we did not want to seem dramatic.
And eventually, what used to make us blush started making us laugh.
What used to grieve us started entertaining us.
What used to convict us started feeling normal.
That is not freedom.
That is desensitization.
And maybe part of revival is not just people learning how to shout again. Maybe part of revival is people learning how to blush again.
To feel the weight of holiness again.
To let conviction be a gift instead of treating it like an accusation.
To stop laughing at things that are slowly hardening our hearts.
To stop calling everything normal just because it is common.
So maybe today the prayer is simple.
Lord, make our hearts tender again. Not fragile. Tender. Not shame filled. Convictable. Not religious and self righteous. Awake. Give us back the kind of conscience that can still feel when something is off. Give us back the kind of spirit that does not need the world’s permission to be set apart. Give us back the kind of holiness that knows when to look away, when to be quiet, when to walk out, and when to say, “No, that does not belong here.”
Because a society that cannot blush anymore is not liberated.
It is numb.
And numb hearts do not need more entertainment.
They need revival.*
Lord God, King of the Universe,
You are our God and we are your people. Today we come to you asking you to purify us from all unrighteousness, knowing that you will be faithful and just to forgive our sins. Forgive us when our minds and hearts are hard and unable to sense your Spirit’s leading. Forgive us for ways we have compromised and allowed sinful things into our lives. Give us hearts and spirits that are totally aligned with your Spirit so that we walk in your ways. Revive our hearts so that we are tender to your holiness and give you the honor and reverence you deserve. We ask this in the powerful name of Jesus Christ, AMEN.
For He is our God,
And we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.
Today, if you will hear His voice:
“Do not harden your hearts, as in the rebellion, (Psalm 95:7-8 NKJV)
Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean; I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them. (Ezekiel 36:25-27 NKJV)
*https://www.facebook.com/SpeakingFromScarTissue/photos/my-son-and-i-were-laughing-in-the-kitchen-this-morning-when-he-said-something-ab/2809918336014535/