I've spent the last several months thinking about the utter waste in our nation. We waste resources, education, and effort on a wealth of idolatrous pursuits that are at the epicenter of American culture. It makes me sad. It is deeply sinful. And one of the saddest parts about it is that the American church has done or is doing very little to call it's people to repentance. Shame on us. We love pretty people. We love strong people. We love people who are strong while they are pretty even more; and we love people who can make us feel strong or pretty most of all. The catch in this whole distorted thought process is that we have no idea what either or strong or pretty really are outside of our disastrously unhealthy presuppositions about physical appearance.
Guys often think we know what pretty is. We usually attribute it to a visually pleasing female image, after all, God did wire us that way, but that is really only one aspect of beauty...one that has been disfigured, embellished, and warped beyond recognition. This image most of us hold to about the nature of beauty is actually a sacred cow. It is an idol that our nation sacrifices billions of dollars to every year.
Sure, there is something aesthetically pleasing about attractive people, but that is only one aspect of a person's being. When it comes to strength and beauty we so often miss the mark by determining a person's worth based on their physical image. Another major pitfall here is how we measure our own worth based on these fickle indicators.
Anytime a person's image governs our reception of them, or our actions or attitudes toward them, we have made image an idol. Jesus plainly stated in scripture that how we treat other people is a direct indicator of how we treat Him.
Heaven help us to see people for who they are, to love them without condition, and to put to death the vulgar quest for the perfect image so many have become so consumed with.
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More posts in this series:
Football, Athletes, and Idolatry