Image Is Everything

Matthew 23:1-7 & Matthew 23:25-28

By: Darrell Anderson, Associate Pastor

Read each of the following descriptions and picture in your mind the image of what each description represents:

• Pin-striped suit, dress shirt, cell phone, BMW
• Male, long hair, nose ring, sagging pants, T-shirt, multiple tattoos
• Letter jacket, buff/cut body, jeans, “Rocky” voice (Yo, Adrian!)

We tend to judge and categorize people based on their outward image. For this reason, many of us spend much time being sure we portray a certain image. After all, image is everything.

The Pharisees probably coined the phrase “image is everything.” Their phylacteries, the leather cases worn on the forehand and left arm containing portions of Exodus and Deuteronomy, were bigger than most. Their tassels, hanging from the four corners of their prayer shawl, were longer than most. The reason for these exaggerations was to display how much “holier” they were than everyone else. They tried to prove their superiority by sitting in the seats reserved for the most prominent people.

What did Jesus say about the Pharisees? He called them whitewashed tombs; beautiful on the outside, dead on the inside. They were like the movie sets in Hollywood – facades; nothing beyond the exterior.

1 Samuel 16:7 says God looks at the heart. Romans 8:29 says we are to be conformed to the image of Jesus. Image is everything. We are to bear the image of Christ. Do not neglect your inner person. What you are on the inside is more important that what you appear to be on the outside. Don’t try to look holy. Be holy (1 Peter 1:15-16).