White-washed tombs- the result of an image-obsessed culture

One of the greatest travesties we face in America today is we have become an image-obsessed culture. While there is nothing inherently wrong about wanting to portray a good image, the desire of most hearts has turned towards the image more than towards the substance of people's hearts. And in so doing, we have neglected to truly appreciate and thus shine forth the beauty that God instilled within each of us at the very core of our heart and soul.

Take Hollywood for example, where we see how celebrities spend millions.....and millions of dollars improving their image. These are people who we look up to- they are our idols and our icons and we daydream of them and yet when we look into the lives they lead, we find little evidence of what's in their hearts. Hollywood is just a small picture of what America has become. An image obsessed culture that has abandoned the practice of looking intently at the beauty of one's heart and soul.

Today, more than ever before, we have forgotten the fact that each of us is created in the image of God and have therefore neglected to see the beauty underneath the surface that exists in us all. The diversity of our appearances is all evidence of God's beautiful artwork in creating each of us. And yet we look in the mirror and let even our own appearances be the very basis of what makes us feel beautiful,lovely, handsome, good-looking, hot etc.

In truth, it's all just a great big illusion- an insecurity that has taken us hostage. When the basis of our security is the image we bear in our outer appearance, the substance at the very core of our heart and soul is found lacking. How sad it is that we more than ever in America have become an image-obsessed culture that is dominated by whitewashed tombs?

Matthew 23:27b "You are like whitewashed tombs which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead man's bones and everything unclean."