More than a Game

Are you playing? I am having sooo much fun with Doppelganger week on Facebook.

Having posted a "double" as my profile picture, I am currently Annette Benning robbing the cradle with Bobby Brady, Jim's look-alike alter ego. (He switched out the Rob Lowe image I suggested.)

My friends have morphed into Liv Tyler, Nicole Kidman, Christina Ricci, Laura Linney, Doogie Howser and Reese Witherspoon. It's amazing to see the resemblances. I never thought of my cousin as Meryl Streep but in fact, she really does look like her--once it's pointed out.

I was thrilled when Julia Louis Dreyfus' face flashed up on my phone tonight. The fact that it was really my dear friend, Carla, made it even better. All of a sudden, I am seeing others better than themselves--as if through a soft focus filter with full professional make up, hair and style.

Logging onto Facebook is now a visual reminder to me of how God sees us all through Christ. Our old selves are made new, perfected in Him. Although we are all sinners (some of us overweight, middle-aged, double-chinned sinners), He looks at us clothed in the righteous garments of His only Son--and sees something akin to glamorous celebrities posing in all their glory.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 2 Corinthians 5:21

"...we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all." Hebrews 10:9-10

When Jim started working in the surf industry, I had a slight challenge at social events. A Midwestern girl at heart, I was not up to speed on the surf scene. It's key leaders, spokespeople, celebrities and buzz words were lost on me. At the first couple high profile events, Jim would sweetly let me know as we approached anyone who was "famous" in this new milieu. Without his prompts, I could not tell the difference between the surf legend and the valet parking attendant.

Honestly, even once he'd told me who they were, I didn't always recognize them as a household name. But, I got good at nodding along. Halfway through one of these soirees, I realized my own prejudice. Was I going to treat the people who'd been on the cover of a surf magazine differently than those who hadn't? Or could I see them all as God did--daughters and sons of the King?

It was then that I devised my face-saving strategy of treating everyone as if they were a pro surfer. In truth, many of them were. I was better off safe than sorry with the others. My internal pact spared Jim undue embarrassment and also made me a more authentic Christian. For didn't God create every single one of us? Who was I to treat one more highly than another?

I'm a star. You're a star! We're all stars in God's eyes.

Think of yourselves the way Christ Jesus thought of himself. He had equal status with God but didn't think so much of himself that he had to cling to the advantages of that status no matter what. Not at all. Philippians 2:5-8

"What is man that you are mindful of him, the son of man that you care for him? You made him a little lower than the angels; you crowned him with glory and honor and put everything under his feet." Hebrews 2: 7-8