Public Image versus Private Life
Barbara Henderson
In all of time
and eternity there is One utterly and continually perfect being. That is of
course Jesus Christ - the son of God. In Jesus - the Man and the image of the
man were exactly the same person. It is always right to follow the example of
Jesus. He merits hero worship. He is a hero.
For every other
hero recorded throughout history, there is a less than perfect side. Some
hero's have a better record than others for things done outside the limelight.
A few were truly close to being the person the public perceived them to be. An
example of a man who was good by human standards was George Washington. No
matter how hard the skeptics may dig through history, they don't seem to be
able to find any dirt on him.
That's good.
Someone known as the father of any country should have a squeaky clean image.
But, usually the hero's life shows some character flaws that should not be
copied. The Bible is full of hero's and heroines, but in almost every case,
some misconduct is included in their biographies.
Abraham -
patriarch of the Jews - had a son outside of his marriage. Moses - leader of
the people and writer of the first 5 books of the Old Testament - had a
terrible temper. King David - a man after God's own heart - committed adultery
and then murder in an attempt to hide his sin. I think God recorded these
things to help us remember that those in authority or public position are still
just human beings born with the sin nature like everyone else. They are going
to mess up sometimes. It also shows that God forgives every repentant sinner -
no matter what their station in life may be.
Today, like
never before, celebrities of all sorts are thought of as more than mortal. The
lives of these celebrities are very public. It seems the details of their
private lives are forced on all the public, whether the public is interested or
not. You cannot get through a check out line in the grocery store without being
bombarded with magazines and tabloids that reveal the details of celebrities'
lives. Headlines are 45% celebrity headlines' 45% weight loss plans; and the
remaining 10% covers the rest of what is going on in the world. When Princess
Diana died, her death was mourned globally as though she were the sister of
everyone alive. Of course I was sympathetic. But I never met the woman. I was
very sorry for her family and the people who knew her. At that time, my sister
had just died; so I knew first hand what her loved ones and friends were going
through. But what I saw around me was NOT NORMAL. How could people who never
met her grieve as though they had just lost a beloved family member? I believe
it was at least in part because she projected the image of being everything to
everyone. She was everywhere you looked smiling from some magazine cover. She
was what ever your fantasy might be. Some people may have pretended they were
actually the princess. Others may have seen themselves as her good friend. To
others she was the ideal woman - or what every man wants in a woman. She was
anything their minds wanted her to be.
In real life
she was just a mortal human being. She went through a terrible marriage.
According to some reports, she suffered from personality disorders. Amidst all
the glamour and publicity, there were some very sad aspects to her life. But
her image was that of perfection and one living in constant delight. Maybe the
public just saw what they wanted to see. Perhaps they were delusional. People
are created with a heart that wants to worship the perfect God of creation. He
alone is worthy of honor and worship. People who reject God will eventually
find someone or something else to adore and worship.
2 Thessalonians
2:10-12 says:
10. And with
all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they
received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
11. And for
this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie:
12. That they
all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in
unrighteousness.
Celebrity
obsession has created a delusional public. They love the image of a man or
woman as though that is the real person. They have no concept that the IMAGE of
a celebrity is NOT the real person. An example is John Wayne. His image was
that of the great American hero. He was larger than life. In truth, he was
never in the military at all. He had a legal exemption during WWII because of
his family. Celebrity obsession may be so appealing to fallen man because it
requires nothing of them except blind loyalty. No sins must be confessed, and
no changes to the inner person are required.
There is a
great danger for those involved in hero worship. They are filling a need to
worship God by giving undeserved attention and devotion to a mortal. They have
rejected God, His truth, and His righteousness. Their souls are in danger of
eternal separation from God in a place called Hell.
Revelation has
numerous passages referring to the image of the beast. It is puzzling to
understand exactly what the image of the beast may be. The book of Daniel
offers some help. First - the great king Nebuchadnezzar had a dream in which he
saw an image of a man. This dream foretold of four kingdoms that would exist.
His kingdom was the first. Median/Persian was next. Greek was third. And Roman
was fourth. The king saw each as part of a human figure made of gold, silver,
bronze, iron, and then iron mixed with clay. He saw these kingdoms as great
achievements of man.
But then Daniel
also had a dream. He saw the four kingdoms represented by wild animals -
beasts. Daniel saw the kingdoms more as they really were - earthly kingdoms in
a world in rebellion against God.
This leads me
to believe that it may be possible that the image of the beast spoken of in
Revelation is the inward man. His image will not be that of the evil one he
actually is. His image will be that of a good man; and a leader who is able to
get things done. His image will be the image of the ideal leader that people
have longed for throughout history. In truth, inside and outside, the beast
will be the poster boy for the sin nature that came to mankind when Adam and
Eve ate the forbidden fruit.
All through
history there have been giants of evil whose outward appearance seemed
benevolent or good in the beginning. But inwardly, they were servants of the
devil. They were beasts.
An example of
just such a man from recent history is Adolf Hitler. In the beginning to the
people of Germany, his evil nature was not apparent. It seems that they saw not
the real man, but an image or perception of what they believed a savior would
be. This could not have happened except that first they had rejected the truth
- and God then allowed a delusion to come to them. They believed a lie.
Eventually, the
beast of Revelation will come on the scene. His actual name is not known. It is
just prophesied that he will come, and he will be terrible. His personal image
will not show the true character of his evil nature. His image will draw people
to him like a magnet. Inwardly, he will be a beast.
To avoid
worshiping him will be very difficult for those who come under his authority.
People will WANT to worship him anyway. His image or personal charisma will be
so appealing and strong that people will just want to follow him. They will
want to believe him. They will have already rejected God. Having rejected the
truth, they will be ready to believe a lie.
Something will
happen to wake up some of the people living at that time. The Bible tells us
some will refuse to believe a lie. They will refuse to worship the beast. Most
of them will get their heads chopped off for refusing to worship the beast. It
is pretty amazing that even though the beast starts chopping off heads, his
followers will not notice his beastly nature.
Most of the
rest who refuse to worship and take the mark will probably starve to death, or
die of exposure to the elements, or be killed in some horrific natural
disaster. Living conditions then will be overwhelmingly bad. The Bible just
tells us that it is time of trouble such as the world has never seen. There are
no words to describe just how bad it really will be.
All people have
a private side. It is human nature to show one side to the public, another to
those they work with, and another to close friends and family. Certain
situations actually require different behavior. The problem comes when the
character of the individual is presented as totally different depending on the
circumstances and group which he or she is around at the time. But Jesus was
the same person 24 - 7's. He has commanded Christians to be like Him. We are to
love one another as Christ loved us. We are to treat others the way we want to
be treated. We are supposed to show the love of God to others by the way we
live and act. Our inner person is not supposed to be a beast. Who we really
are, and our image or how we are perceived by others, is supposed to be the
same thing. Honestly, we can't hit the mark of perfection. Like heroes of the
Bible, we are all going to stumble and fall occasionally. Thankfully, God is
willing to forgive us and still use us. So today is a good day to start
improving our own image.
Thanks for
reading this article.
God bless you.
Have a good day.
