Genesis 3:7-10 - Men and their fig leaves

7 At that moment, their eyes were opened, and they suddenly felt shame at their nakedness. So they strung fig leaves together around their hips to cover themselves. 8 Toward evening they heard the LORD God walking about in the garden, so they hid themselves among the trees.

9 The LORD God called to Adam, "Where are you?" 10 He replied, "I heard you, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked."

I'm a fan of John Eldrege. He writes good books. You should read some of them.

One of his sayings I'm fond of is that in order to understand man, you don't need a PhD in Psychology - all you need is to take a good look at this verse and understand the consequences.

You see, men (since the fall), have this fear within them, all of us, that we're not good enough, that we don't have what it takes, and that it's just a matter of time before we're exposed as imposters. In the back of our minds, imprinted on our DNA perhaps, is this memory of the fall, haunting us. We stuffed up. We let Eve have the forbidden fruit directly in front of our eyes. And we now doubt any of our abilities.

So we have historically resorted to two strategies to hide our ineptitude (perceived or real). Firstly, a lot of men hide. "I heard you, so I hid" (v10). We avoid any situation whatsoever in which we don't feel comfortable. I for one will do anything to avoid group sports with other men. I would rather not have a cold water tap for 6 months rather than try and fix it myself. I am forever battling against procrastination and inertia. I get paralysed with fear at times. Men hide to avoid being shown up as fakes.

Secondly, we put on fig leaves (v7). I was doing lunch with a friend of mine the other day who asked me why I have done so many degrees. Only thing is, she actually already knew the answer. My degrees, my qualifications, my displays of academia, are nothing more than very expensive and time-consuming fig-leaves. If I have enough qualifications, I will be viewed as competent (or so I've been thinking all these years). For other men, their fig leaf might be their professional persona, their sporting image, etc. etc. etc.

What's the solution? Good question. In short, spend time with God, and with other men who support you. For the long answer give me a call. :)