Image is Everything

Do you know what this shoe is?  It's a brand called Starbury; and it was designed by professional basketball player Stephon Marbury a few years ago as an alternative to the expensive basketball shoes that were being marketed to young urban youth at the time. I say that they were an alternative because he wanted to sell the shoes for less than $20. His reasoning was that he wanted to provide a shoe that working single mothers could buy for their children without spending over $100 per pair. The shoes looked nice enough, but didn’t attract main stream appeal.

And why do you think that was? I asked some of the kids in my church if they would buy a pair of Starbury’s and it took me about 10 minutes to get an answer from them. The reason it took me that long was because it took them about 10 minutes to stop laughing at me. The kids told me that they didn’t want to get clowned (made fun of) by their friends for wearing such a cheap shoe. Now some of the kids that I know are fortunate enough to be able to able to get a pair of $100 shoes. Many times the children have more money in their pocket than I do. But that’s not the point. For these kids and many others, it wouldn’t matter if the cheaper shoes were better in appearance and quality than the more expensive ones. The fact that their peer group would know that they bought the cheap shoe would destroy the image that they were trying to perpetuate.

Isn’t that what we do as adults? We have an image that we are trying to maintain. We want to be viewed a certain way. Some of us want to be seen as affluent.  Some of us want to be seen as stong.  Others of us want to be seen as wise and respectable.  But no matter what, we have an image that we want to present to the world.  We value the image that we create for ourselves.  And we do certain things to protect the image.  But is that always the right thing?  Let's examine another way of looking at ourselves.

Do you know what Imago Dei is?  It is a concept that asserts that human beings are created in God's image and therefore have inherent value independent of their utility or function.  In other words, we are valuable simply because we are God's creation.  Check out this link at Wikipedia for a little more information.  But the point is this:  it doesn't matter what you wear.  It doesn't matter where you live.  It doesn't even matter what you do for a living.  Your inherent value as a child of God outweighs anything that you could create or achieve for yourself. 
I spend a lot of time thinking about my image and the way that people view me. I  realize that I'm a minister that works in the secular world.  Before that, I am a Christian.  And even before that, I am a child of God that was created in the image of God.  And that is what people should see in me before they see anythng else.  Trust me.  It is an examination that I have to do on a daily basis.  Because if I forget what my true image is supposed to be, I can get caught up in trying to create a false image of myself to please others.  What image do you have of yourself?  It's a question that we should all ask on a daily basis.

Peace and Love,

Rev. Mike


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