Stop Carving an Idol of Yourself
By Jenny Hanna, Resonate Pullman
It’s time to talk about our obsession with our own image. Curation of and concern for our image is something that runs rampant in society to the point where we don’t even notice the extent of how much we’ve been influenced to allow this to infiltrate our thought patterns and behaviors. For years, we’ve known we live in a culture that revolves around pictures and videos shared on social media that portray ourselves and our lives exactly as we want to be seen. Beyond social media, there are so many self-promoting behaviors and motivations our culture has normalized that we must consistently fight to break away from, if we are to live in a way that glorifies Christ rather than ourselves. As I was reading through 1 Peter, I began to really meditate on a verse in 1 Peter 2:11 that says:
“Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against our souls.”
You may be wondering how this verse has anything to do with image. Trust me; it wasn’t the first stand-out verse to me initially. However, it led me to two big takeaways:
“Beloved I urge you as sojourners and exiles. . .”
We aren’t home here on earth.
In this verse, Peter is writing to people who were experiencing persecution in their faith. They are living as exiles, but he encourages that we should all live this way in the world, since we are now defined by the resurrection and Lordship of Jesus Christ and no longer by this world. It’s easy to get excited about the finished work of the resurrection, but we don’t naturally get excited about the idea of living as a ‘sojourner’ or ‘exile’ until we reach heaven. Living that way in the ‘not yet’ which comes before heaven is naturally uncomfortable and challenging. We all want to strive for belonging. I personally would rather live as someone who is accepted or well liked, because that’s so much more immediately gratifying. In Mark 8:31, Jesus foretells his coming death and resurrection to his disciples. Peter rebukes him for saying he will be rejected, suffer, and die, to which in verse 33 it says:
“But turning and seeing his disciples, he [Jesus] rebuked Peter and said ‘Get behind me, Satan! For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.’”
Why must we live like sojourners and exiles? Because it’s not about living to draw people to ourselves, or to the things of this world, but that people would see Christ in us, and the transcendent hope we have in His death and resurrection.
“. . . to abstain from the passions of the flesh which wage war against our souls.”
We should care for the management of our souls more than the management of our image.
The unfortunate reality of living in a sinful world is that we are in a constant battle against our flesh. By default, our sin leaves us in desperate need of the Holy Spirit to transform our hearts daily. Romans 13:14 says, “Put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh to gratify its desires.” Sin is insidious. It doesn’t knock loudly before entering. Instead, it hides behind things that may seem harmless at first glance. With this call to flee from sin, it’s important to ask where we are personally living under the influence of the world and making provisions for the flesh. It’s worth taking seriously, because Peter makes it clear that passions of the flesh wage war against our soul.
In light of all this, here are three image pitfalls for you to check your heart in:
Social Media
How often are you approaching social media yearning to be seen? We care a lot about what people think of us, and with social media, our generation has grown up with the means to curate our image served to us on a silver platter. I know for myself that something like participating in trends seems so harmless on the surface; I do it all the time. But in reality, while the trend itself may not be harmful, it is harmful that we’ve so easily turned a blind eye to the fact that we’re comfortable receiving and following the guidance of the world. I challenge us to ask ourselves this question: am I striving for my social media to display what the world has deemed praiseworthy? If my gaze is set on the things of this world, I will find myself placing worth in how others respond to what I post to be externally validated as unique, special, and set-apart. Suddenly, caring about likes has waged war against my soul and secure identity in Christ, because my eyes are fixed on myself. How does the way you approach social media need to change in order to live differently than those who hope in the fleeting recognition of the world?
Physical Appearance
Our culture has sold us standards for physical appearance, and when our image is allowed to rule, we’re the most ready buyers. We idolize exercise or diets we’ve been told are the way to a perfect beach body. There’s a big difference between having healthy rhythms to care for your body as a vessel built to worship to the Lord and worshiping the vessel itself. One is fixated entirely on what will bring us glory in this life, while the other is stewardship of the temple of the Holy Spirit. We are spending so much money on things that don’t really have anything to do with stewardship but just promote our own vanity, like expensive skin and hair care routines some influencer said would increase your beauty, or clothing and shoes that someone you want to look like told you had value. It should be a red flag to us that we can readily spend so much money on a style that will be irrelevant in a matter of months or years. The question we must ask ourselves is this: where is my heart in those things? More importantly, does the way we think about our physical appearance look any different than this world?
Reputation
Out of these three things, reputation is the silent elephant in the room. Maybe you’ve been reading through this so far and feel like your clothing is noticeably more modest than others, and you only repost Christian things to your Instagram. It is easy to see those things and think we’ve got it all figured out, but I challenge you to examine your motivations. What are you striving for more: your image to look like a good Christian, or for your character to reflect Christ? While I think we could agree unanimously that it’s a good thing to desire to be servant-hearted, generous, loving, caring, modest, etc., we can’t ignore the fact that we want glory and recognition for these things in a way that is no better and no less self-focused than the person wanting recognition for their bikini picture on Instagram. It’s way less desirable to live as a silent servant, to give without recognition, or to love without anyone seeing. Where are you putting authenticity on the backburner and living into optics instead?
If you’re feeling called out in any or all of these things, first of all, know that I’m right there with you! I have been a culprit of all of the above. It can be easy to look at all these pitfalls and become overwhelmed or feel shame, but that is not the intention here. My hope is that this would prompt us to evaluate where we are presenting our best image, rather than reflecting Jesus. That what is waging war against our souls would be exposed, no longer allowed to go unchecked or minimized. It’s important to note that we cannot live as sojourners and exiles unless we are constantly reminded of the gospel. Without this hope that lifts our gaze to eternity, it feels bleak and exhausting to carry on swimming upstream. So remind yourself how the Lord first transformed your heart and life as you came to know Him. Be reminded of your first love again, and find joy in knowing it’s a far greater love than anything this world told you was worth pursuing.
