In the garden of Eden, the serpent got Adam and Eve to disobey God by suggesting they could be gods themselves. When they ate of the fruit and realized they were naked, they grabbed fig leaves and sewed them together to cover their sense of shame.
Adam and Eve realized they weren’t in fact God, but extremely vulnerable and insecure and shameful without him, so they tried to fix the problem with fig leaves.
Ever since Eden, mankind has been trying to be god of his own life. Ever since Eden, when man realizes he can’t be God and instead is left feeling shame, he tries to cover himself with a sort of fig leaf or mask.
These masks (we’ll call them fig leaves) aren’t necessarily made of plants we find out in our gardens; they are anything we string together to make us feel safe, secure, or honorable. Whether we realize it or not we have a tendency to put on a fig leaf instead of turning to God for identity, security, safety, and honor.
We see this concept of fig leaves played out in the life of Saul.
Saul came from the smallest clan in the lowest tribe of all of Israel. He felt in himself no meaningful value, yet he was chosen to be king. The people loved having him as their king. And it seems to become something for Saul that made him feel significant.
When they were faced with the onslaught of Philistines and the people fled from Saul for their own protection, he disobeyed God and offered the sacrifice only Samuel was supposed to offer so they would stay with him. (1Sam. 13:1-9) As a result, the kingdom was taken from Saul.
The power as king and the favor of people’s praise gave Saul a sense of covering from the shame of being from a low clan in the lowest tribe of Israel. Because he leaned into these fig leaves for security instead of leaning into God, he ended up disobeying God. Which in turn cost him the very things he was using to feel secure.
Just as Saul—just as Adam and Eve—we tend to cover our shame with something we can do instead of through Christ.
Following are five types of fig leaves humanity tends to wear without even realizing it:
Position
Just like Saul, some of the rest of us use our positions to try to cover our shame. If we’re in a position of power or influence, such as being the manager or pastor or headteacher or head nurse, then we can feel better about ourselves. And feeling better about ourselves seems like it should make our shame go away. But it doesn’t work. We usually get to the top positions of power and yet still feel lonely, still feel frustrated inside, and still feel shame.
Mrs. Know It All
A second fig leaf we typically wear without realizing it is the “know it all” fig leaf. If we can show everyone that we know everything—if we can have an answer for any question—then it seems like it should make people wowed by us. And people being wowed by us should make us feel better about ourselves, right? And feeling better about ourselves, we instinctively conclude, should take away our shame.
But it doesn’t.
Fig leaves never take away shame. The fact that we feel shame is not because we are naked, but because we are separated from God. And usually when we’re using something to cover ourselves so we don’t feel shame—when we’re using something like knowledge—we end up turning away our friends and offending others. And that only causes more shame.
Mr. Nice Guy
A third way we try to cover our shame or make ourselves feel acceptable is by being the nice guy—the guy everybody likes. We do our best to not cause any ruffles or conflicts, but always be friendly and happy because as long as everyone likes us we like ourselves and we feel safe.
The problem is no fig leaf actually works in covering our shame—not even being nice. We often end up spending all kinds of energy making sure people always like us that we can end up becoming consumed by those people and caring more about what they say then what God says and following him.
Most Attractive
A fourth fig leaf we wear is trying to be the most attractive person. This can be in physical appearance, but I’m not only talking about physique. We try impressing people with our abilities or our good looks or our wise sayings. We do whatever we can to attract people. If people are drawn to us then we feel better about ourselves, and feeling better about ourselves seems like it should help cover our shame.
But it doesn’t.
We’re still left feeling lonely, insecure, and uncertain of whether we are fully accepted.
Best
A fifth and final way we try to cover our shame is by being the best. The best athlete, the best singer, the best writer, the best carpenter, the best teacher, the best organizer—you name it, we trying being it. If we can be the best and always come out on top then it seems like we should be able to feel good about ourselves.
And feeling good about ourselves should cover our shame.
Yet, we know this doesn’t work because anytime we meet someone just as good or better than ourselves we get jealous. Maybe even upset. It makes us feel insecure, threatened by the potential that somebody else might be better than us. And if someone is better than us, we must not be acceptable or worth loving.
Here’s the thing: we string fig leaves together because we feel shame and we’re afraid of not being accepted by God.
Each time we obsess over our looks or over getting a shot down just right we may think we’re simply wanting to “be diligent,” not neglecting our best. But we’re often doing it because being the best or being the most attractive makes us feel safe and acceptable.
It’s not that doing well and being beautiful is wrong. In fact, it’s right. And we usually use right things (such as Saul being anointed king) to cover our shame. The problem at the bottom of it all is we are trying to make it through life without God.
It’s risky leaning into God.
He asks some hard things of us, sometimes, and does he really know what he is up to? Does he actually have our best in mind?
But we can’t have relationship with God when we’re functioning out of doubt. We can’t be close to him while wearing masks or fig leaves at the same time.
And only through intimate relationship with God is our shame removed.
Next time you find yourself using something other than God to make you feel safe or acceptable, ask yourself, “What am I looking for? What am I wanting? Am I wanting to feel safe? Am I wanting to know I am accepted by others? Am I wanting to feel that I have worth, that I have something to offer the world?”
And once you can identify what you are truly looking for, take it to Jesus and talk about it with him.
Don’t just recite what you know. Don’t just rush through a prayer to Christ. Actually talk about what you’re feeling with Jesus.
Jesus wants to truly heal your shame. Jesus wants you. He wants to be your safety, acceptance, and worth.
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matt. 11:28-30)
Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”. . .Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1Pet. 5:5-7)
…we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand. (Ro. 5:1-2)
What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.”
No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Ro. 8:31-39)
Can you see times in your life when you’ve worn any of these fig leaves? How did it end up working for you? Feel free to share in the comments below.
