Image

Last week during our meeting we discussed how we portray ourselves to others and how God intended us to be in the context of image.

The distinction was made between two questions repeatedly asked of college students that often yield that same answer. “Who do you want to be?” more often than not is answered as if the question “What do you want to do?” was asked.

Since being is more of an existence rather than a specific action, it is important to recognize our purpose before we tackle this issue.

Before we can decide who we want to be we must first realize who we are. Although we can look to the positions we hold in our families, our interests and activities, and the roles we play in student organizations to attempt giving an all-encompassing response to this question, there is only one answer that is full and complete: we are children of God.

As children of God we must realize that this is not an “and/or” designation. We are not children of God or students who attend campus parties. We are not children of God or spouses who go to church now but had a great time getting to know each other before marriage. We are not children of God or future bankers who will come to the decision later, once we get our life figured out. We are just God’s children. To all of whom He has given specific talents and gifts, and placed unique interests in our minds and passions in our hearts.

This all gets muddied when we, as children of God, try to become pleasers of man. Our identities become transformed as we seek approval from others and base our intentions on the responses we receive.

In the book “The Gift of Being Yourself,” David Benner explains that from childhood many of us figured out how to become a different person based on the reactions we receive, noting that our identities become based on what we do rather than who we are. He describes the dangers of this saying “the dark side of pretending is that what begins as a role becomes an identity. Initially the masks we adopt reflect how we want others to see us. Over time, however, they come to reflect how we want to see our self…our masks have become our reality and we have become our lies.”

Whether we are trying to redefine who we were in the past or we’re discovering things about ourselves that we never knew, the danger appears when the person we want to be doesn’t line up with the person God intends us to be. Rather than changing ourselves in an attempt to please others, we should seek God and rest in His promises.

You may hide behind the mask of humor because you’re insecure about your appearance. Or maybe you put on a face of bravado because you’re secretly afraid of failure or inadequacy. Or you're active in serving because you think people will pay more attention to your accomplishments than your bad attitude. No matter what they are, if your intentions are dictated by the reactions you desire to receive rather than motivated by sheer delight in doing the will of God, you are treading on thin ice.

If you missed our meeting last week, or if you just want to think some more about what we discussed, here are some questions for you to reflect on:

• Who do you want to be?
• Have you ever wrestled with the question “What is your purpose on Earth?”
• What are you using as your mask?
• Is it easy or difficult to adopt the personality that accompanies the mask in college?
• What would it take to surrender that false identity?
• What is the problem with having a mask that doesn’t match reality?

References for “Image" Large Group message:

• 1 Samuel 16:7
• 2 Corinthians 5:14-17
• Psalm 139: 13-16
• 1 John 4:7-8
• Ephesians 3:19

Join us next week for our discussion on reality versus perception!