Over the last few weeks I’ve heard multiple references in the news, on websites, blogs and podcasts to the concept of ‘image management’. Most of the references have been about people managing their image so as to control or even manipulate what someone thinks about them. Image management is partially about teaching someone to put their best foot forward and helping them make a good ‘first impression’. So in many ways, image management is a good thing.
There are other ways though in which ‘image management’ is contrary to the teaching of the Word of God. The Old Testament writers and the early followers of Jesus had a fair amount to say about ‘image management’, though they didn’t use those exact words.
One of the highest valued traits in the Word of God is humility. It is so important that God says He detests pride.
Solomon wrote: There are six things the LORD hates—no, seven things He detests: haughty eyes …(Proverbs 6:16-17 NLT)
The Apostle Peter wrote about it this way: All of you, serve each other in humility, for “God opposes the proud but favors the humble." (1 Peter 5:5 NLT)
Pride is often the root of ‘image management’. I want people to think ‘higher’ of me or ‘better’ of me than they actually should. So I put on a front. I put on a façade. I put on an ‘image’, because I don’t really want people to know the real me. If they knew the real me, they might not like me and they surely wouldn’t think as highly of me as I want them to.
Humility is actually the opposite of ‘image management’. One of the first definitions I heard of humility was ‘being known for who you are.’ To say it another way: humility is ‘being known as you really are.’
That doesn’t sound like ‘image management’. Humility is letting people see you – the good, the bad and the ugly.
Stick to being known for who you really are – then people are loving you and not an image that’s been managed.
Friday, April 26, 2013
Friday, April 19, 2013
Jesus own brother believed and was transformed!
One of the strongest evidences of Jesus being who He said He was is the transformation and testimony of His brother James. James, Jesus’ oldest stepbrother, like the rest of Jesus’ siblings, did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah. They knew that He was an effective teacher, that people were being healed, that crowds followed Him everywhere He went and even encouraged Him to leave Galilee and go to Judea where He could become ‘famous’, but ‘even His brothers didn’t believe in Him.’ (John 7:5)
Can you imagine being the stepbrother of Jesus? Jesus is healing people left and right. Jesus is teaching huge crowds of people. Jesus is feeding the multitudes. There are stories circulating about Jesus; calming storms, walking on water, casting demons into pigs and these are just the stories we know about. John, one of the Apostles and an eyewitness, writes that there were MANY things that Jesus did that were unable to be put to writing and that ‘the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.’ (John 21:25)
James’ stepbrother Jesus is the one doing all these things and yet James does not believe that His brother can be the chosen one, the Messiah, the Son of God. It is not until after the crucifixion, burial and then the resurrection of Jesus from the dead that James is transformed.
The Apostle Paul says that: “He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, He was seen by more than 500 of His followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then He was seen by James and later by all the apostles.” (1 Corinthians 15:5-7 NLT)
Once James saw His brother, the one that He saw crucified, pierced in the side, confirmed dead by professional executors and then buried, alive from the dead…his life was changed. It was so radically changed that he spent the rest of his life as a leader among those who became part of the ever expanding spiritual organism called the ‘church.’
In AD 62, less than 30 years after the death, burial and resurrection of his brother Jesus, James was brought before the Jewish Sanhedrin, (the supreme court of their nation), and was given the chance to recant his belief in his brother Jesus as the Messiah. Instead, standing on the top of the Temple, he declared that Jesus "Himself sits in heaven, at the right hand of the Great Power, and shall come on the clouds of heaven." At this declaration the Jewish leaders pushed him off the temple and he hit the ground below where his death was finalized by stoning. His death was so impactful that it was written about by Josephus, Hegesippus, Clement and others.
The life, transformation and martyr of James, Jesus’ brother, is one of the great testimonies as to the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah! The faith we live out is not based on myth or fairytales. It is based on real history!
Can you imagine being the stepbrother of Jesus? Jesus is healing people left and right. Jesus is teaching huge crowds of people. Jesus is feeding the multitudes. There are stories circulating about Jesus; calming storms, walking on water, casting demons into pigs and these are just the stories we know about. John, one of the Apostles and an eyewitness, writes that there were MANY things that Jesus did that were unable to be put to writing and that ‘the whole world could not contain the books that would be written.’ (John 21:25)
James’ stepbrother Jesus is the one doing all these things and yet James does not believe that His brother can be the chosen one, the Messiah, the Son of God. It is not until after the crucifixion, burial and then the resurrection of Jesus from the dead that James is transformed.
The Apostle Paul says that: “He was seen by Peter and then by the Twelve. After that, He was seen by more than 500 of His followers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have died. Then He was seen by James and later by all the apostles.” (1 Corinthians 15:5-7 NLT)
Once James saw His brother, the one that He saw crucified, pierced in the side, confirmed dead by professional executors and then buried, alive from the dead…his life was changed. It was so radically changed that he spent the rest of his life as a leader among those who became part of the ever expanding spiritual organism called the ‘church.’
In AD 62, less than 30 years after the death, burial and resurrection of his brother Jesus, James was brought before the Jewish Sanhedrin, (the supreme court of their nation), and was given the chance to recant his belief in his brother Jesus as the Messiah. Instead, standing on the top of the Temple, he declared that Jesus "Himself sits in heaven, at the right hand of the Great Power, and shall come on the clouds of heaven." At this declaration the Jewish leaders pushed him off the temple and he hit the ground below where his death was finalized by stoning. His death was so impactful that it was written about by Josephus, Hegesippus, Clement and others.
The life, transformation and martyr of James, Jesus’ brother, is one of the great testimonies as to the life, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah! The faith we live out is not based on myth or fairytales. It is based on real history!
Friday, April 12, 2013
Will the Real Jesus Please Stand-up?
Over the centuries men have sought to determine all that they could about Jesus, who he was, what he did and what he was ‘really’ like. This pursuit has not always led not to a better understanding of who Jesus was, what he did and what he was ‘really’ like. Instead it has often led to a more confusing and convoluted view.
The confusion has come about as men have studied the writings of various authors over the years. As more and more documents surface, more and more information has been added to the mix. The dilemma is that more information doesn’t necessarily sharpen the focus but it tends to dull the focus.
The first accounts of Jesus were not found in the ‘Gospels’ but in the writings of Paul, Peter, James and John. The ‘Gospel’ accounts were written a few decades later. Matthew was written from first hand memory of walking, talking, eating with Jesus. Mark was a disciple of Peter and wrote down the account of the life of Jesus as told by Peter. Luke, a physician, researched what had already been written and interviewed people who had walked, talked and ate with Jesus. Luke’s goal was to write an accurate and detailed account of the life of Jesus. John, the disciple who was given responsibility for Mary, the mother of Jesus wrote the last account. The accounts of these various men who had lived with Jesus give us an accurate, though limited, look at the who, what, where and how of Jesus.
As the years, decades and even centuries passed more and more people wrote about Jesus. Some of them were disciples of disciples of disciples of disciples who wrote what they had heard. The quandary is that those authors were years, decades and even centuries removed from walking, talking and eating with Jesus. They were not ‘eye witnesses.’ Their contribution didn’t focus the picture of Jesus - It made everything fuzzy.
Now ‘scholars’ argue about documents that were written five centuries after Jesus - not much help!
I want to help you see Jesus!
The confusion has come about as men have studied the writings of various authors over the years. As more and more documents surface, more and more information has been added to the mix. The dilemma is that more information doesn’t necessarily sharpen the focus but it tends to dull the focus.
The first accounts of Jesus were not found in the ‘Gospels’ but in the writings of Paul, Peter, James and John. The ‘Gospel’ accounts were written a few decades later. Matthew was written from first hand memory of walking, talking, eating with Jesus. Mark was a disciple of Peter and wrote down the account of the life of Jesus as told by Peter. Luke, a physician, researched what had already been written and interviewed people who had walked, talked and ate with Jesus. Luke’s goal was to write an accurate and detailed account of the life of Jesus. John, the disciple who was given responsibility for Mary, the mother of Jesus wrote the last account. The accounts of these various men who had lived with Jesus give us an accurate, though limited, look at the who, what, where and how of Jesus.
As the years, decades and even centuries passed more and more people wrote about Jesus. Some of them were disciples of disciples of disciples of disciples who wrote what they had heard. The quandary is that those authors were years, decades and even centuries removed from walking, talking and eating with Jesus. They were not ‘eye witnesses.’ Their contribution didn’t focus the picture of Jesus - It made everything fuzzy.
Now ‘scholars’ argue about documents that were written five centuries after Jesus - not much help!
I want to help you see Jesus!
Friday, April 5, 2013
Spread the Gospel like the flu!
Twice in the past little while I’ve been hit with a bug. Once it was the chest, head, throat, fever etc. Just this last week, I got hit by the stomach bug. No need to describe what that looked or felt like. You already know!
It is interesting how bugs are spread. One person touches another person, who touches another person and so on. One person gets the bug and another person doesn’t. One person gets the bug badly and another person is only mildly affected by the bug. One person touches another person who doesn’t get sick at all, but who passes the bug on to someone else who gets sick. It passes over some people – what’s with that?
In my case, who knows who it was that passed the bug on to me. It could have been one of the ICA teachers. It could have been an ICA parent. I could have been an ICA student. It could have been a grandchild. It could have been a stranger. It could have been someone I do business with. It could have been YOU!
I was thinking of bugs, germs and contagions in regards to the message of Jesus. The spread of the Gospel, the Good News, of Jesus’ forgiveness, new life, love, peace, hope and joy is not meant to happen via some formula. The spread of the Gospel is meant to happen much like the flu is spread.
The spread of the Gospel is meant to happen when one person touches another person, who touches another person ,who touches another person, and so on and so on. Every follower of Jesus is a ‘carrier.’ Every follower of Jesus is meant to infect other people.
When Jesus said to the disciples “Go into all the world and make disciples”, He was saying “Go into the world and infect others with the message of my love, grace, forgiveness, peace and joy.” Are you contagious? Are you infecting others?
It is interesting how bugs are spread. One person touches another person, who touches another person and so on. One person gets the bug and another person doesn’t. One person gets the bug badly and another person is only mildly affected by the bug. One person touches another person who doesn’t get sick at all, but who passes the bug on to someone else who gets sick. It passes over some people – what’s with that?
In my case, who knows who it was that passed the bug on to me. It could have been one of the ICA teachers. It could have been an ICA parent. I could have been an ICA student. It could have been a grandchild. It could have been a stranger. It could have been someone I do business with. It could have been YOU!
I was thinking of bugs, germs and contagions in regards to the message of Jesus. The spread of the Gospel, the Good News, of Jesus’ forgiveness, new life, love, peace, hope and joy is not meant to happen via some formula. The spread of the Gospel is meant to happen much like the flu is spread.
The spread of the Gospel is meant to happen when one person touches another person, who touches another person ,who touches another person, and so on and so on. Every follower of Jesus is a ‘carrier.’ Every follower of Jesus is meant to infect other people.
When Jesus said to the disciples “Go into all the world and make disciples”, He was saying “Go into the world and infect others with the message of my love, grace, forgiveness, peace and joy.” Are you contagious? Are you infecting others?
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