"Expose him!” Onlookers watching the point guard with handles shout for an ankle-breaking moment. The defender is on his heels, doing his best, yet the pressure increases. A smooth crossover, a misdirection, and a step-back. The defender hits the ground. He watches an uncontested shot sail over his head and into the basket. Nothing but net. How embarrassing.

The fear of exposure extends beyond the proving ground of the field or the court. Exposure removes our ability to maintain a certain, curated public appearance. Exposure prevents our ability to control our image. Therefore, exposure can feel dangerous. Relationships cultivated through emotional or transactional interactions often come and go based on how others perceive your value to the relationship. Exposure threatens to reduce this perceived value.

The fear of exposure can come from two different sources. The first source is what the Bible calls, the “fear of man,” (Prov 29:25) which is categorized as a misplaced fear. This fear is not in response to physical threat so much as it is the anxiety to always to please other people and maintain a good reputation. Paul highlights this fear in Galatians 1:10, “For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a slave of Christ.” When we find ourselves shrinking back from making an unpopular, though right, decision, we are being influenced by our fear of man. We are afraid of being exposed to attacks, ridicule, and lost opportunities.

The second source is what the Bible calls “fear of the Lord,” (Matt 10:28). This fear is rightly allocated because it leads to eternal life (Deut. 10:12; Prov 14:27). God exposes us through revealing our sin. Ephesians 5:13 says, “But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light.” If God is light, and bringing sins out of the dark hiding place of our hearts exposes them before the true source of light, then we experience a real trembling fear as we are fully exposed and known before God. This is one reason people fail to repent of their sins. Confession is very hard, because embracing exposure is a fearful moment. The first thing Adam and Eve did once they sinned was attempt to hide from God and cover their nakedness to lessen the feeling of shame and exposure (Gen 3:7-8).

Fortunately, Scripture is very clear about how God receives those who let go of their fear of exposure and embrace the fear of the Lord: “If we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness,” (1 John 1:7-9).

A few things stand out about this amazing promise. First, choosing to expose your sins in the light brings about unity with one another. Confessing your sins to another believer may be fearful, but Christ’s grace and love can be manifest in a real physical way through the presence of His Spirit in a friend walking alongside you.

Second, Jesus’s blood covers your sin. You expose your sin so that you can see it clearly covered. You unburden your own shoulders and lay the sin at the feet of Jesus on the cross. His blood is enough, and your conscience can be free to “go and sin no more,” (John 8:11).

Third, continuing to fear exposure only adds deception on top of a pile of growing sins. God sees all. Hebrews 4:13 is a sobering reminder that you will be exposed one day, no matter what: “And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are uncovered and laid bare to the eyes of Him to whom we have an account to give.” The call now is to bring the sins forward to receive forgiveness rather than judgment later.

Finally, we see that God is “faithful and righteous” to both forgive us and cleanse us from every ounce of unrighteousness. This is a promise from the Divine Promise-keeper who cannot lie (1 Sam 15:29). It is human to fear being exposed, but we are a fallen humanity. You need redemption and a new birth into a new humanity. Fear the Lord more than man. Receive forgiveness, peace, and reconciliation. What a joyous promise from a loving God!