Image

“Man's unique agony as a species consists in his perpetual conflict between the desire to stand out and the need to blend in.” –Sidney J. Harris

This quote resounds with truth. I believe that throughout our lives we vacillate between two extremes – A desire to seek individuality, diversity, and uniqueness. And then a desire to want to fit in, feel comfortable, and be normal.

Our desire to be different AND be normal causes us to consistently think about how we present ourselves. We want people to know us based on certain qualities that we may portray. We want people to know us based on our personalities, our likes and dislikes, our passions, the music we listen to, the people we hang out with, who we marry, our fashion sense, the school we attend, the sports we play, our hobbies, our activities, the place we work, the books we read, the publications we read, our political views, the organizations we support, our opinions, our convictions, the kind of food we eat, the cars we drive, the neighborhood we live in, our parenting skills, the kind of church we attend, our theology, the places we travel to, the movies we watch, the TV shows we watch (or don’t watch for that matter), our sense of humor….and the list goes on. We desire people to see us in a particular way.  So we create an image. We hold tight to our image. We define ourselves based on this image. An image based on what we do. Not on who we are. We hope that our image will gain us love and acceptance by a certain person or a certain group of people. We are consistently focused on this image. And the effort of maintaining this image consumes our life.

 Our desire to embrace an image isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I believe that we were created to embrace image. We were created to hold onto an image - to find fulfillment, wholeness, acceptance, meaning, identity and love in an image. I believe we have this desire for a reason. And this desire, in and of itself, is not wrong. But the ways in which we seek to acquire this image can be. Most of the time, we seek this image for our own personal gain. We seek an image that we can control. We seek an image that will give us more attention and more praise from others. We seek an image that makes us look good. But in reality – God wants us to seek an image that will draw us away from ourselves and into a deeper relationship with Him – the image maker. When we seek the image of God, it allows us to better understand what kind of image we should really be holding onto. Since we are all created in the image of God then He should be our main source when it comes to understanding our true image. We must ask ourselves, do we seek an image in order to understand ourselves or to understand the one who created us?

On the other hand, diversity, uniqueness, and a desire to be different is not a bad thing. I love diversity. I am so glad that we are not all alike. I know I can be annoying – so being friends with people exactly like me would drive me crazy. Diversity makes life interesting - and so much more enjoyable. I love to experience diverse people and places. God intended for us to be diverse. Our very DNA confirms this. And this is not from something that we have done – we are created that way. We did not choose this for ourselves nor did we do anything to earn it. Our very existence makes us unique, diverse, and most importantly – valuable. However, our definition of uniqueness is so vastly different from God’s definition. We define ourselves by what we do. God defines us by who we are. We are His. We are all created by Him… in His image…in order to bring Him glory. Not ourselves. We are not here to draw attention to ourselves. We are here to draw attention to Him. We are unique because God sees us as unique. He valued us enough to suffer and die for us. And it had nothing to do with what we have done or are going to do. It had everything to do with who we are. We were and are His creation. His artwork. And artwork does not exist to tell you about itself… instead - it tells you about the artist.

My fear is that I will seek diversity, uniqueness and differentness for the sake of just that and not for the sake of Christ – which, if I’m being honest, I do everyday. If my diversity is glorifying to God and not myself then there is a pureness in what I seek. But the truth is, God has not called us to be different. He has called us to be Christ-like. And when you think about it – if we are all striving to be Christ-like, then we should all be like-minded and we should develop the same qualities - We should all display love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

 Facebook is a prime example of our desire to seek diversity for the sake of diversity. We sit and ponder what we want people to know about us… our activities, our interests, whether or not we are “single” or “in a relationship” or “it’s complicated” (whatever that means)…. We want to update our status so people know what we are doing or thinking. And we want people to comment on that status – so that we feel as though people care about our thoughts and our actions.

Even in writing this – I want people to think that my insights are somehow “unique”. Different. Never been heard before. Truth is… they’re not. I know that several people – from different time zones and different time periods have thought of the very same insights I am sharing with you right now. My thoughts are not original. Sometimes I walk into Barnes and Nobles, or a library or any other gigantic building that holds books…and think, “seriously, how many different ways can the same thing be said?” I wonder how many books just repeat each other. How many times do authors “repackage” thoughts in order to sell the next big “new” idea.

My prayer is that we will all be secure in who we are. Not in what we do.

You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
       you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit;
       a broken and contrite heart,         -Psalm 51:16-17

“There is a beautiful transparency to honest disciples who never wear a false face and do not pretend to be anything but who they are.”  ― Brennan Manning

“God sees service as who we are to him, not what we do for him” - Unknown

A strange new dimness....

I grew up Southern Baptist. As you may know, Southern Baptists love to sing the hymns :) - and for this, I am grateful. To me, hymns have deep meaning. They capture profound truths with honest emotions. This is one of my favorites....

Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus

O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s a light for a look at the Savior,
And life more abundant and free!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Through death into life everlasting
He passed, and we follow Him there;
Over us sin no more hath dominion—
For more than conquerors we are!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

His Word shall not fail you—He promised;
Believe Him, and all will be well:
Then go to a world that is dying,
His perfect salvation to tell!

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Most of the time (if not all), the things I want to grow dim in my life are the things that have given me great pain. This desire is easy - simply because the things that have caused me pain are often things that have happened outside of my control - they are the things that have happened to me. While I firmly believe that these things matter to God and he does desire for them to grow dim in my life, I am more challenged to focus on those things in which I do have control over.

It is my idols, the things I place before God, that must grow dim. My false sense of security and anything that "sets itself up against the knowledge of God" (2 Corinthians 10:5) are also what God wants to grow dim in my life. These desires are much more difficult to let go of. God can only dim these things until I choose to surrender them to him - and to fully trust in his grace and goodness. My thoughts and feelings are not truth. God is truth and He is the author of truth. Anything he says about who I am is what I should choose to believe and then choose to live in. I must cling to Him and only Him. This is what will bring a strange new dimness to the idols in my life....