How To Be A Christian Without Being A Jerk

Faith in real life

Body Obsession

July 5th, 2012

When we turn from God, our bodies become the place where sin is lived out. The path of self-worship goes directly through our looks and how we physically feel. We can see this obsession everywhere.

No one is really interested in how Hollywood stars are thinking lately. Yet, you page through any celebrity magazine and you will see the “best beach bodies in Hollywood,” “the worst fashion mistakes at the Oscars,” and so on.

On occasion, I read magazines like, “In Touch,” or “People” (research purposes only!), and I am always amazed at how much emphasis is on what stars look like. Most are actors and singers, not models. I realize, thin is still in, and yes, Matthew McConaughey does have an excellent six pack, even for a man his age (Much better than my one pack!), but what about their skills and what they have to teach us about their art?

Then there are feelings.With advertisers, I am often invited to try any product with the understanding that I am going to be sexually satisfied as a result. Other than a touchy-feely family or extended family “we are all in this together theme,” most products out there are marketed with some nod to sexuality. God-given creativity and imagination seems to be stuck in the public arena on how many different ways I can say that sex is the real focus.

Body stuff like pornography, alcohol, and drug abuse are all pure body ruin. We are bombarded with the message of feel good, or don’t feel at all. Until they started making good spam blocker on the internet, the two “V’s”, Viagra and Vicodin, seemed to be the solution to all my problems. Giving in to the search for pleasure is a direct result of heart and mind ruin.

Social ruin quickly follows then,  because I don’t need you unless it means I can use you for pleasure. Even anger is not exempt from body ruin. Anger is lived out physically, as well. This is another warped way of the body. Getting a “rush” over rage. So if heart, mind, body and social relations are all on the path to ruin, what happens to me?

When is the last time you looked in a full-length mirror? What did you see?

 

How To Be A Christian Without Being A Jerk

Faith in real life