Creating our own image

Is this a true image of a person?!

We all want to look our best. For some, that means investing in the latest fashion. But clothes don’t make the person; we also create an image to project the character we want others to see. Yet underneath, that’s rarely the true “me”.

Crafty deception

A minority of people craft an alter ego, a Jekyll and Hyde existence as two distinct persons. Anthony Blunt was one. He was a renowned art historian and worked with the Queen, but while a student he had been recruited as a Russian agent. His friend Victor (later Lord) Rothschild, an eminent zoologist, didn’t know that and recruited Blunt into the British security service (MI5) during World War II. Blunt duly passed on all he knew to his Russian handler.

Although Blunt confessed to his treachery in 1964, his double act wasn’t made public until 1979. People were astounded. Rothschild, who had described him as “a saint”, “found it almost impossible to believe”. A former MI5 secretary was more graphic. “My God, he was a charmer. We were all a bit in love with Anthony. It was exactly like being in an earthquake – or on a quicksand, I couldn’t believe it….I mean the whole world shook. It really shook for me.”¹

Mixing the palette

Few of us go that far. Driven by ambition or our perception of other people’s expectations, we’re more like the character in T.S.Eliot’s The Cocktail Party  who is

                        “…dressed for a party
            And going downstairs, with everything about you
            Arranged to support you in the role you have chosen.”²
We select our roles, our images, from a palette of options: how do I want to appear to this person or this group at this time?

Management guru Charles Handy did this in his younger years. Later, he reflected that “in trying to be someone else I neglected to concentrate on the person I could be….I was, in retrospect, hiding from myself, a slave to the system rather than its master. We find ourselves through what we do and through the long struggle of living with and for others.”³

A crumbling image

The images we create for ourselves often fail to fulfil their potential and sometimes fall apart. Handy saw the problem and sought to remedy it. By contrast diplomat Ted Mundy in John le Carré’s Absolute Friends became disoriented by the habit. “He no longer knows which parts of him are pretending. Perhaps all of him is. Perhaps he has never been anything but pretended man.”⁴ Into that scenario the New Testament offers both hope and advice.

The biblical perspective

God is not deceptive: “I the Lord speak the truth; I declare what is right” (Isaiah 45:19). In return, he expects us to demonstrate inner truth (not just external conformity, Psalm 51:6). Deception is almost natural to us (Jeremiah 17:9) yet contrary to all that God stands for (John 8:44; 2 John 7) so cannot be part of Christian lifestyle, 2 Corinthians 4:2. (The context here is personal life and ministry. Some security or diplomatic roles might require individuals to assume identities or be economical with truth. There may be exceptional grey areas in public ethics but that is not our concern here.)

Rather, we’re “made in the image of God” (Genesis 1:26), that is, with moral and spiritual consciousness and creative potential. We’re to allow the renewal and development of that image so that we more resemble, or reflect, the guileless character and attitudes of Jesus (1 Peter 2:22; Colossians 3:10). He returns us slowly to become the people we know we could and should be, better even than the surface image we put on every morning. It’s a cultural change, not a cosmetic one. 

Think and talk

1.  Why do we create images for ourselves? What are we afraid of, and what are we trying to achieve? What can we learn about this from the historical and literary quotes above?

2.  Read Colossians 3:5-17. Put in your own words the old and new “images” which are described here. Take time over this and consider all the implications for personal life and corporate relationships.  
3.  Some people work hard at projecting an image. Others don’t care what people think of them. How do we strike the balance between honest “what you see is what you get” and insensitivity?

References

1.  Christopher Andrew, The defence of the realm, Allen Lane 2009, pp.219, 270; B. Penrose and S. Freeman, Conspiracy of silence, Grafton Books 1986 p. 141.
2.  T.S. Eliot, Complete poems and plays, Faber & Faber 1969, p.362.
3.  Charles Handy, The hungry spirit, Arrow Books 1998, p.86f.
4.  John le Carré, Absolute Friends, Coronet Books 2004, p.198.

© Derek Williams 2013

 

Should we intervene in conflicts?

Russian guards in Moscow's Red Square

When someone is in trouble we’re faced with a dilemma: do we step in (and if so, how?) or refuse to get involved? The dilemma becomes harder when one party is powerful or violent, or when it’s clearly a case of “six of one and half a dozen of the other”. Western nations have a history of intervention in other countries’ conflicts, with mixed results. Civil war in Syria is currently raising the question at an international level.

Christians are often divided over such action. The New Testament is set in a conflict-ridden society and focuses mostly on personal conduct and church discipline. But it does suggest principles which have implications for wider situations, with a common thread: prevention.

Prevention of conflict

The New Testament knows nothing of the blame culture; it focuses on “us” not “them”. So we’re to “love our neighbour as ourselves” (Mark 12:31). Violence stems from self-centred desires for something (from a product to promotion) or to control people, property or resources (James 4:1-2). The first step in preventing violence is to eliminate selfishness from ourselves.

Peacemaking

Then we may be able to prevent a conflict escalating. We can “turn the other cheek” which implies forgiveness (Matthew 5:38-42) and “love our enemies” by doing good to them (Luke 6:27-33), neither repaying evil with evil nor taking revenge (Romans 12:17-19). If we do seek justice, it’s to be proportionate not punitive (only “an eye for an eye”, Exodus 21:24).

Jesus, Paul and James encouraged active peace-making (Matthew 5:9; Romans 14:19; James 3:18). When people fall out, Jesus says go and talk, if necessary with mediators (Matthew 5:23,24; 18:15-17). There’s a theological basis to this; “reconciliation” is at the heart of the Christian message (2 Corinthians 5:18-21). Having been reconciled to God, Christians are to be reconciling people.

This always demands patience and usually requires privacy. When former Finnish President Martti Ahitisaari was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2008, hardly anyone knew that for 30 years he had brokered peace in numerous places including Namibia, Aceh, and Kosovo. The watching world demands progress reports but warring parties need to find face-saving solutions away from public glare. So do private individuals locked in conflict.

Victim support

While the process of conciliation is going on, people may be suffering. Throughout the Bible God shows himself sensitive to the cries of oppressed and vulnerable people, from the Israelite slaves in Egypt (Exodus 3:7) to the common people exploited by rich landowners in the 8^th century BC (Amos 5:7-24). Jesus commended the Good Samaritan who assisted a stricken Jew (Luke 10:25-37), and told of the positive spiritual effects of social service (Matthew 25:31-46). We can offer practical help through charities, and church leaders can raise public awareness and encourage political action through statements and letters.

Enforcement

Finally, there may come a time when further conflict can only be prevented by physical intervention. The New Testament recognises the authority of legitimate government to take decisive action against wrong doers (Romans 13:1-7). The “just war theory” gives Christians a yardstick to assess possible action. It requires that intervention should be a last resort; in defence of aggression; for limited ends; to restore peace; be proportional; and respectful of non-combatants.

However, there’s also a caveat. Why are we intervening in this situation and not that one? There are numerous conflicts at present, often unreported but all causing suffering: Sudan, Kenya, Mali, Congo, Somalia, Yemen, among others. We come back to the personal question: what really motivates my (or my country’s) actions? Discuss!

Think and talk

1.  Re-read the text and look up the Bible references. To what extent might your previous views need to be modified by them?

2.  You don’t love your enemy by killing him or exacting revenge. Loving enemies is counter-intuitive, but a mark of the radical new ethic of God’s Kingdom. Think of practical ways to apply this in personal and corporate conflict situations, real and imagined.

3.  Find out about organisations involved in conciliation. Try these to begin with: Fellowship of reconciliation, http://www.for.org.uk/; Concordis International, http://concordis-international.org/; Bridge Builders, http://www.bbministries.org.uk/. Aid charities such as World Vision (http://www.worldvision.org.uk/what-we-do/) and Christian Aid (http://www.christianaid.org.uk/whatwedo/) include advocacy as part of their work to relieve suffering.

© Derek Williams 2013