The image you see

Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you’ll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you’re content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty.  (Matthew 23:11-12)

If I use BOLD or red font in my post, I am doing so because I want those particular words to "stand out".  If I were to parade down the sidewalk wearing all black, emblazoned with all kinds of chains and tattoos would you think I might be trying to "stand out" a little from the gal or guy next to me?  When a company wants to gain the market share of business, they spend a whole lot of money on trying to find the "brand" which will make them "stand out" as the one to trust.  The purpose of "standing out" is usually to call attention to, think of first and foremost, be the "go to" in your life.  Jesus tells his disciples something entirely different about being the "go to" in life - "standing out" really being a result of "stepping down". Most of us may not come right out and say it, but we hope our life will count for something when it is all said and done.  We want some type of legacy to leave.  In fact, most of us will say we want to be "known" a certain way right here and now, not just when we are gone from this earth. Sometimes we talk a good talk, but we really do not live as we talk.  You have probably heard the expression, "Walk the talk, and talk the walk".  I think this is the thing Jesus is pointing out - there was a whole lot of talk, but the walk was missing.

These religious leaders were trying to act as some kind of "expert" over the lives of those who were "under" them in the community.  In those days, the scholars were the "elite" - they exercised the authority over the others in the community.  Jesus cautions against allowing any man to rise to this level - as there is really only one who deserves this position in our lives and it is God himself.  I think Jesus was probably going all the way back to the Law of Moses and point out one of those Ten Commandments that referred to us having no other gods but God.  Don't think for a moment that the religious posturing of these leaders didn't capture the notice of Jesus - he was all over their appearance of godliness without the heart evidence to "back up" their claims. In contrast, Jesus tells us if we want to "stand out" we need to actually "step down". We find strength only as we come to a place of admitting our weakness.  See this similar connection between "simplicity and plenty".  When we are willing to live in simplicity (sincerity), we come into a place of plenty (fullness and abundance).  Jesus points out the beauty of being ourselves.  To some, this might seem a little overwhelming at first because we don't really "trust" what we "are" as of worth or value.  So, standing out as our genuine selves is a little overwhelming.

The moment we begin to trust Jesus with who we are (the real us), there is liberty that begins to set us free to come into a place of abundance.  We may not be able to trust others with our "real self" at first, but when we find the ability to get real with Jesus and see he doesn't love us any less for who we really are, the easier it becomes to begin to live as our "real selves" out in the open.  We don't need the "masks" of religious pursuit to hide behind - it is okay to be genuine.  Too many times, people are turned off by the masks of religious people.  They see the pretense, but not the reality of it lived out.  What is talked is not walked.  Jesus says we begin to exercise the greatest influence over others not in the pursuit of the religious "stuff", but in the simplicity of our genuineness of character. Seems contrary to what we see modeled around us, huh?  People "campaign" for the spot of recognition - whether it is a political race, or the attempt of a company to get their brand noticed most as the one this world needs.  All this really does is get a name out there - if the "product" doesn't live up to the expectations of the one "buying into" it, the word on the street soon turns to an account of how disappointing the reality of the "product" was.  The truth is, we learn to trust what is real or genuine.  We learn to distrust what is nothing more than posturing or pretense.  Maybe this is why Jesus focuses so much on the internal character of a man.  He was always pointing to the idea of what is on the inside being evident in what comes out of a man. Wanna stand out - then stand down.  Be genuine.  Get real with yourself, then with God.  In so doing, you will begin to speak volumes beyond whatever posturing you could do to present any other image to the world!  Just sayin!

What's that filter for?

I am going to issue a challenge this morning - just a little one to ask each of us to consider something we may not have really considered before. How would others describe you? Who would they say you are? Would they describe you by your title, such as a great pastor, a good teacher, a talented musician? Would they describe you as the one who is aloof, too sensitive, or kind of timid? Would they say you were the one always bragging about your greatest accomplishments? There are lots of ways to describe someone, aren't there? Yet, the toughest thing to ask someone is to be genuine about who they really think we are! It might not be as comfortable as we'd like to think!

When Jesus arrived in the villages of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, “What are people saying about who the Son of Man is?” They replied, “Some think he is John the Baptizer, some say Elijah, some Jeremiah or one of the other prophets.” He pressed them, “And how about you? Who do you say I am?” (Matthew 16:13-15 MSG)

How others see you is important. Who they see you as in "reality" is very revealing - maybe a little too revealing! Quite some time ago, I realized I was putting up a good front in life - always showing others what I was comfortable allowing them to see about me. I never wanted them to know the 'real me', maybe because I wasn't very proud of some of the things I struggled with, such as my temper, my fears, or my insecurities. Many times we want the closeness of a 'real relationship', but we don't know how to get to the point of actually allowing others to see us. Maybe we really need to take a lesson from Jesus here - people will see us through various filters - because they somehow apply those filters to help there own true selves from being seen by others!

Jesus ask who others say he is and he receives a variety of answers, doesn't he? Some see him as the one prophesied about so long ago - the one who would 'precede' the coming deliverer of their nation. Others see him as a great prophet, while others see him as a religious zealot kind of bent on dividing a nation. It is amazing that all these people could see the exact same life lived out in front of them and then come to such different conclusions about who he is. They witnessed his miracles and some said he was a prophet, while others said he was of the devil. They saw his humble beginnings, born the son of a carpenter, and viewed him as unable to truly understand or teach scripture, yet he was 'spot on' each time he shared any of the Old Testament truths with them.

Others see us through filters - the filters that help them, not necessarily us. Filters are meant to block something out. We use a filter in our coffee pots because none of us likes to chew our coffee! We use filters in our air and heating units so dust is captured and not recirculated through the air. We use a filter in our dryers because lint isn't becoming on our clothing. Filters remove something that is definitely there, but we don't necessarily want to deal with. We don't want the grinds in our coffee, nor the dust or pollen in our air. We don't want these things - so we create filters to block them from 'getting at us'. In reality, whenever we 'filter' our lives, we are just saying we are trying to keep others from dealing with the unpleasant stuff in us that really is there, but we aren't comfortable having anyone else deal with it other than us!

Since we apply filters in our own lives, we often 'apply' those filters in the lives of others, seeing them as we have 'filtered' them to be. This may not really help us in the long run because it could just be the things that are filtered out are really the things we need others to help us deal with and remove for good! Jesus didn't apply filters - he lived openly and he saw others in the same way he lived his life. Maybe it is time for us to do the same. Just sayin!

Really?

Pretentious people don't really get the most out of life. They are so busy putting up the 'pretense' they don't really get much time to enjoy what is really happening all around them! We cannot forget the importance of living genuinely - showing our "real colors" vs. living with a "facade" in place.  The tragedy of not living a life that always puts on a show or keeps up a certain image is that others only see only a pretense of happiness.  Too many times, it is easy to hide behind what we want to portray to the world vs. being our real selves.  This is because we interpret our 'real' selves as unworthy of public display, not of value - so we create a facade to hide behind.  This is a very dangerous place to be - live there long enough and you will become less and less familiar with what exists behind the facade!

A pretentious, showy life is an empty life; a plain and simple life is a full life. (Proverbs 13:7)

God wants us to realize a life that is pretentious (pretend, false, make-believe) is really an empty life - it is void of something every life desperately needs.  Empty lives do not contain what one would expect to find when examining those lives closely.  Look upon an individual that has become skilled at the use of their "facade" of being spiritually and emotionally "all together" and you will usually find somebody as messed up as the rest of us!  They have just become quite skilled of hiding behind the facade - all the while enduring their extreme emptiness hidden deep within.  God has placed us into 'families' to give us a place of safety to actually come out from behind those 'images' we portray publicly - to protect us from living empty, hidden lives.  It is within these relationships, both those into which we are placed by birth and those we label as 'extended families', that we are to be open, vulnerable, and real.  Yet, so many today find themselves unable to truly be who they are, even in the one place they should be able to be as 'real' as they truly are 'under the mask'. Why?

Perhaps it is because society teaches us that it is best to "create an image", placing that on display for all to see.  Or maybe we just don't feel comfortable being "real" with anyone because any other time we have tried to be real in the past, we have been hurt or rejected or put down in some way.  Regardless of the reasons for the pretense we display, it keeps us from growing as we really need to mature - in all our relationships including our relationship with God.  It is not until the facade is removed - the pretenses are destroyed - that we are free to emerge as the person God created us to be. A plain and simple life is a full life.  If you are feeling like your life is pretty empty most of the time, you might ask yourself if you have been living behind some pretenses - displaying what is really keeping you in your place of emptiness.  I am always impressed with an honest person - one who is willing to be who they really are - despite the flaws and imperfections of their character.  When I see this kind of genuineness, I know that individual is well on the road to developing some tremendous spiritual character traits!  

A plain life is marked by several things:

• No pretense - not needing to embellish the reality of what is hidden just beneath the surface.  We all have pasts - each of us has been affected by them in different ways.  We all have formed opinions of how that past makes us "appear" and have become skilled at covering up what we don't appreciate or fear exposing.  God is asking us to expose it to him first, allowing him to gently turn the negative effect of our past into something in which he can display his glory and grace.  In turn, he asks us to willingly display our "true self" to others - revealing his glory and grace for others who so desperately need to see how much he is capable of doing when given the access.
• Humble appreciation of God's grace - not an elaborate display of what we think that grace should look like in our lives - but the simple, unpretentious display of his love through us.  When we are free to be who he has created us to be, his love becomes so evident in us that others are drawn to that love like bugs to a light!  It has an "attracting" force that no spiritual facade could ever produce.

The next time you think your life is too plain or too simple or too 'anything' that you don't think others will understand or appreciate - finding yourself tempted to mount some facade of pretense - STOP!  The "real you" is the one God wants on display - it is the one that brings honor to his name and draws the weary outcast to his feet.  It is not a "make over" we need - it is just a simple display of his grace that "makes over" what we spend so much time "concealing over".  Be real!  Really! Just sayin!