Dual Roles

I recently watched two old programs that had something in common.

In each there was an actor or actress who played two parts.

In the first there was an actress who portrayed both the head of a corporation as well as the woman trying to take it away from her.

In the second, an actor portrayed both a ruthless dictator and a man trying to put an end to his regime.

The use of a single actor for dual roles was quite effective in each case.

This put me in mind of one of my favorite Christian allegories written in the 1600’s by John Amos Comenius.

It is entitled The Labyrinth of the World and the Paradise of the Heart.

One of the devices employed by Comenius in his work was the use of masks.

In his book, people go about in public wearing masks.

They try to pass themselves off as beautiful, hiding their true ugliness behind their masks.

Comenius used this device to illustrate that people go about pretending to be something they are not.

They try to cover up things like greed, jealousy and pride.

They do so in order to fool the people with whom they interact daily.

They try to fool others into thinking more highly of them.

But there is a danger in this attempt to deceive.

If we practice it long enough ourselves, we might begin to believe the mask rather than the truth.

We might even convince ourselves we are the illusion rather than the reality.

One thing is certain.

We will never be able to fool God.

Galatians 6:7 (NET) - Do not be deceived. God will not be made a fool. For a person will reap what he sows,

There is a way to make the make the mask completely unnecessary.

Isaiah 1:18 (NET) - Come, let’s consider your options,” says the Lord. “Though your sins have stained you like the color red, you can become white like snow; though they are as easy to see as the color scarlet, you can become white like wool.

This is possible through Jesus.

Hebrews 7:25 (NET) - So he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Performing dual roles may be fine for actors.

But it is certainly no way for us to live.

Galatians 6:8 (NET) - because the person who sows to his own flesh will reap corruption from the flesh, but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, August 9, 2019.

I’ll be back here on Friday, August 16, 2019

Outer Space and Outer Appearance

It is hard for me to believe we are nearing the fiftieth anniversary of the first manned moon landing.

I was a child while the race for space was taking place.

In those days before the Internet, products and services used the moon landing in their promotions.

I eagerly anticipated the moon landing and took in as much coverage as I could.

Perhaps that explains my continued fondness for science fiction especially works from the 1950’s and 1960’s.

It was great anticipating the progress we might have made.

That said, many works from that genre and era depicted evil aliens as ugly or disfigured.

Heroes on the other hand were depicted as either beautiful or handsome.

The same generally holds true today.

We still tend to associate beauty with goodness.

People have been making this assumption for centuries.

It even happened in Biblical times.

Take the time Samuel anointed David king.

Before David was brought before Samuel, Samuel was certain he knew whom God had chosen.

1 Samuel 16:6 (NET) - When they arrived, Samuel noticed Eliab and said to himself, “Surely, here before the Lord stands his chosen king!”

But God does not look at people the way we do.

1 Samuel 16:7 (NET) - But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t be impressed by his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. God does not view things the way men do. People look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

This is certainly not the only time scripture discusses this.

The New Testament warns us that outward appearance can be deceiving, perhaps even our own.

Matthew 23:28 (NET) - In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

Even the things we do to make ourselves more attractive on the outside are of little consequence.

1 Peter 3:3-4 (NET) - Let your beauty not be external—the braiding of hair and wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes— but the inner person of the heart, the lasting beauty of a gentle and tranquil spirit, which is precious in God’s sight.

In the end, it is our internal beauty that matters most.

A beauty that is only perfected by knowing Christ.

By the way, there is one more thing I remember about the space program.

Namely, it is the missions that followed the first moon landing.

In very little time, people became tired of it and viewing figures plummeted.

In a short while, manned missions to the moon stopped altogether.

This reminds me of the Parable of the Sower, particularly of the seed sewn on rocky ground.

Matthew 13:20-21 (NET) - The seed sown on rocky ground is the person who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy. But he has no root in himself and does not endure; when trouble or persecution comes because of the word, immediately he falls away.

Internal beauty is possible, and it can last a lifetime.

It only happens when we commit our hearts to the Lord for as long as we live.

Blessings,

Jim Pokorny

The Other Brother Jim

Look for me at http://otherbrotherjim.blogspot.com/ on Friday, June 28, 2019.

I’ll be back here on Friday, July 5, 2019