Image Management and Authenticity by Jerrell Jobe

“There is nothing more winsome or attractive,” writes John Ortberg. “than a person who is secure enough in being loved by God that he or she lives with a spirit of openness and transparency and without guile.” He continues:

One of the defining moments in any dating relationship is the first time the man sees the woman without makeup. Makeup is the art of “facial management.” You don’t want to let a guy look at your actual, unadorned face. So makeup is designed to make eyes look bigger, to make lips look fuller, nose look smaller, and hide the facial blemishes and flaws.
But it is not just our physical blemishes that we try to hide. Most of us work pretty hard to conceal the flaws that mar our character.
We learn this art of image management from an early age. Image management is simply trying to appear better to those around us than they really are. Sometimes these means are extreme, and at other times they are simple and very subtle in nature.

Our culture is full of examples. To mask, veil, or alter one’s self and appearance is more common than uncommon. We watch it on television and the movies. We read about it in the magazines and newspapers. We see it on the billboards. Ever since the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve, deep within humans is a propensity to cover ourselves up – to wear make up.

John Eldredge sums it up well in Wild at Heart, comparing the way we veil our true selves to how Adam and Eve concealed themselves behind the foliage in the Garden of Eden: “We are hiding, every last one of us. Well aware that we, too, are not what were meant to be, desperately afraid of exposure, terrified of being seen for what we are and are not, we have run off into the bushes. We hide in our office, at the gym, behind the newspaper and mostly behind our personality. Most of what you encounter when you meet a man is a façade, and elaborate fig leaf, a brilliant disguise.”

Authenticity draws us out from behind the trees and causes us to drop the "fig leaves." It poises us before the One who created us and loves just for who we are. It is out of that acceptance with God that we interact with humanity. It is out of that posture that we no longer have to try to "appear" better than we think we are perceived, we can simply be who we are and becoming....

Honor

When Cynthia and I (Edgar) went hiking in Brown County a couple of weeks ago we pushed it hard in the thick foliage of Yellowwood State Forest. The physical demand on us helped us discover odd body parts again...like my achilles tendon. Perhaps all the climbing up and down hills is was what did it. In 1 Corinthians 12, Paul writes that every part of the body is important (even the ones we don't pay attention to until they ache!) It's easy to overlook the achilles until you can't walk anymore because of it. I can honestly say I value that tendon more today than three weeks ago. Honor is all about placing value on someone. Practically we have an opportunity to do that during a highly pressurized and divided election campaign. It is too easy and too divisive to choose corners over politics and candidates. I agree that so much is at stake, but not so much that the body of Christ should practice dishonor instead of love. Honor will serve to make our families strong. Paul directs us to "value others before ourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others." That's a good way to start building a culture of honor.

Compassion

The meaning of the word Compassion is to be moved in the deep inward parts.  Yet without action, compassion is not much more than a gut ache. Intentionality is what transforms the feeling into practical help for real needs. I am so challenged by the words of Jesus, "When you do it to the least of these my brothers, you have done it to me." If we could just get this declaration into our hearts and minds and then let it inform us how to live. In this lies one of the secrets of sharing compassion. What do you think????

Lighten Your Load

Hey gang, this is John Kaehr and it was great spending some time together this Sunday morning.  I hope that you enjoyed seeing some of my backpacking gear as well as hearing about generosity. I believe its important for us to leave behind the things we don't need so that our journey can be more enjoyable.  I really do feel that its important for us to make decisions on a regular basis that help to lighten the load we are carrying in life and than take what we don't really need anyway and give it to someone who might actually need it.  I will let you know if I ever get the guts to give away my nice tent.  We started the day with this question. "What would be the toughest thing in your life to give away?"  Sometimes its just fun to talk about our most prized possessions.  But we also spoke about giving our time as well.  Casey came up and talked about making breakfast for the kids at the Crossing Educational Center and Shawn shared about spending time with the youth at the Juvenile Justice Center.  Lets spend some time this week talking more about generosity and the challenge it is to really lighten our load.  Please feel free to use this blog to interact with what we covered in service as well as any thoughts you've been having on the matter lately.  If anybody gets a chance to go to the JJC or Crossing this week we would also like to hear about your experience.  Blessings.

JK