Projecting Images...

“He then summoned…and all the other provincial officials to the dedication of the image he had set up.” Daniel 3:2.

What King Nebuchadnezzar did in reality we do in theory as we meticulously and methodically build an image for ourselves. I didn’t notice until this morning that the word image is so closely spelled to imagination. In the context of our concept this morning I would say that the two will always lends itself to the other.

It is through our imagination that we determine pieces of ourselves that we wish to bolster and exaggerate. We grab our chisel and chip away what we do not like about ourselves forming a more perfect façade. We add water to the mix to mold other areas into the image in which we want others to see. The dedication to our image is a full time job, since constant chipping, molding and shaping is the only way to maintain it. Our imagination works in overdrive as we think of new ways to support an old image.

The images we create are nothing more than a manifestation of our imagination…a ghost without an anchor. ‘Image building is any way we intentionally make ourselves seem different…and usually more…than we really are.’ Daniel – Lives of Integrity, Beth Moore.

There is only one image that counts which is the image of Jesus Christ. Like every image, it takes time to build, mold and sustain. Only through the transforming work of the Trinity will we be people of dedication to the One true image. The more we empty ourselves and fill up with the image of Christ, the more we will match the authentic person for which God created.

People will buy whatever we are selling so I ask myself this morning, ‘Am I selling Christ or am I selling a version of myself?’