I posted an entry on face book challenging the use of air-brushed photos. Men seeking to look 30-40 years younger than they actually are. The following is an accurate and substantive response I received. Think on these things!
Eight by ten glossies? This refers to a picture (eight by ten inches) used for promotion. The type budding celebrities produce, sign and give away. Be sure of this: the pose, the lighting - everything is perfect. All blemishes are air brushed away. Nice!
Such picture-perfect pictures makes sense for that type of promotion - first impressions, lasting images and all that. Yet, they remind me of our obsessive and wearisome efforts to make and maintain the right image as good Christians.
Oh the tiresome burden of “being a testimony” by putting on a false front of perfection, people with no struggles and certainly no doubts. Thus my effort at poetry & no pretense of being a poet.
Please know: I am not saying live however you would like – sloppy and sinful. I am pleading for more honesty, integrity and refreshing transparency.
"But we have this treasure in jars of clay
to show that this all-surpassing power is from God
and not from us. "
2 Corinthians 4:7 - NIV
Eight by Ten glossies, slick press reviews
Displaying our glory, and all we can do
Slick beyond words, dressed to the nines
We're competent, versatile, quite a rare find
We hardly look weak, or in need of much aid
We have it all handled, we're clam, cool and stayed
“Just look at who we are, just see what He's done.”
Most certainly we will draw them to God’s only Son
Of course God can use us, of course we're His tool
Just look at our lives, they sparkle like jewels
They'll wish they we're so blessed, and hope they can be
Such bastions of strength, real “witnesses” we
Yet, it's weak ones He uses, the broken ones too
Our cracks and defects, give Him room to shine through
When He uses the least, the ones who are weak
His grace becomes something, hurt others will seek
Perfection - it threatens, creates quite a threat
"I'll never be like you, that's a sure bet"
The damaged but useful, they attract other ones
Who feel they're unworthy, of love from the Son
Resist the temptation, to glaze over cracks
To hide them from view, behind other's backs
Why not share your weaknesses, declare you have needs
Yours is a garden, that still has it weeds
Yet He is at work, He loves and He uses
They very same ones, who usually loses
Is not what we do, or the skills that are ours
That makes us a tool, by HIS mighty power
Shredding 8 X 10 Glossies, refusing image control
Concerned for His glory, solely His virtues extol
We chipped jars of clay, don't hold treasures too well
We're vulnerable vessels, from which treasures can spill
Yet, when treasures are seen, in mere jars of clay
Vulnerable vessels, that serve "everyday"
When gold is deposited, in such basic vases
It shows that God's pleased, with us common-type places
The sweet Rose of Sharon, the raised Son of God
Loves to be shown off, in means that are odd
So bring Him your brokenness, lay bare your scars
Let Him shine forth from us, mere vessels, clay jars
“To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me. Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” 2 Corin. 12:7-10 (NIV)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment