“So
we have stopped evaluating others from a human point of view. At one time we
thought of Christ merely from a human point of view. How differently we know him
now! This means that anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person.
The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” 2
Corinthians 5:16-17 (NLT)
So,
there it is.
Kathy and I do most (all?) of our shopping at Kohl’s.
The
above picture is of a Kohl’s fitting room just like the one I used two weeks
ago to purchase a new pair of slacks.
I tried on tons of various slacks, mostly because almost none ever fit
me.
I guess I need to like the way I look (or is that some other store’s
tagline?)
Someone
recently compared the American culture we “swim in” to a fitting room, where
we try on all the stuff the store is selling to see if it fits, to see if helps
me “fit in”, to see if it will project the identity that I want to have.
Or am trying on what will provide me with identity that American Culture
is telling me that I need to have?
So
when I try on the stuff that looks so good on others in ads, why don’t those
things look that good on me?
What’s my problem?
I guess I just don’t measure up.
I can try to measure up, but it’s a losing battle!
So, if I try to measure up and don’t, I can go two routes.
I can quit trying and simply accept that I’ll never measure up to what
Kohl’s and Macy’s (actually I’m more of a JC Penny guy) tells me is the
minimum acceptable stand for decency in appearance, or I can keep trying with
the guaranteed result that I will still fail to measure (spelled l-o-s-e-r) only
I’ll spend a lot more money getting there.
Facebook,
ads, TV, movies, twitter, Instagram, check out tabloids, People Magazine and
Cosmopolitan, Sports Illustrated in February, all of these and a gazillion more
“American Values” vie for your attention and their place in you “fitting
room”, the place where you allow your identity to be shaped?
How well do you think you measure up?
And what if you do think you measure up to what others tell you ought to
measure up to?
Who are you then?
And how long will that last?
Is
there any other option?
Find
out tomorrow at 9:00 or 10:30 when Pastor Gary teaches us how to allow God to
shape our identity in a world that does everything it can to mess with who we
really are.
For
more:
follow on Twitter @jefflampl
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