Image Management

Martin Luther nailing his 95 statements on the door at Wittenberg

"Our nature struggles fiercely against being saved without our works and tries to deceive us with a grand illusion of our own righteousness. So we may find ourselves attracted to a life that merely appears to be righteous. Or because we know we aren’t righteous, we may be frightened by death or sin. Therefore, we must learn that we should have nothing to do with any other way of becoming righteous, except through Christ alone."
Martin Luther

On wag, or perhaps a scalawag, noted that the major task of a Minister is "Image Management". Church work is difficult, I have personal experience in that arena. Perhaps this is why so many Ministers are scared silly to innovate and try new things.

One Minister who came to see me was panic stricken. He had led his congregation into a building program and now the work of building the church community began in earnest. Not everybody was happy with the Minister and they raised a ruckus by writing letters to the Board and protesting loudly to anyone who would listen.

The Minister had been working hard, too hard perhaps, and he was tired. So, one day he snapped and got into them pulpit to let out his hurt, anger and pain. He shocked everybody by resigning right there and then. He had failed to manage his image and he could not stand the fact that, according to him, "Nobody supports me and I have done so much for them."

But the truth was different. A few people, percentage wise, were upset and mad ea lot of noise. The problem with my friend was he was working and trying to please everyone. He had to please everybody, so he thought, or he was a failure.

This man was confusing performance image with his identity in Christ. The Conservative, Evangelical church world is far too focused on performance and far too little focused on what Christ has already performed. Remember a few years ago when so many people wore the bracelet WWJD? It stood for "What Would Jesus Do?" and epitomized the Conservative Church and its emphasis upon works.

Here is the problem, we are not saved by works nor are we kept by works. This past election was won by people largely rejected by Evangelicals and the main question is, "How do we manage our image better?" Our image needs the Holy Spirit not a PR firm. Only God can rescue us and save us and the question is not WWJD but WHJD: "What Has Jesus Done"?

I began with the great insight by Martin Luther and I will end with it. Our flesh desperately wants to perform and show God, myself and others what a good guy I am. My Image must be Managed and that requires that I am perceived to be almost perfect. The fact that a small percent of my friend's congregation was upset set him off and he could not stand it.

We all want to sing the modern version of the old hymn:

Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a great guy like me!

But this is not a sweet sound. It is a sickening sound that demands perfection and a lot of Image Management.
But the original text is right.
Amazing grace
How sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
"Our nature struggles fiercely against being saved without our works and tries to deceive us with a grand illusion of our own righteousness. So we may find ourselves attracted to a life that merely appears to be righteous. Or because we know we aren’t righteous, we may be frightened by death or sin. Therefore, we must learn that we should have nothing to do with any other way of becoming righteous, except through Christ alone."
Martin Luther