Pacman Jones is a uniquely gifted athelete. Paris Hilton is a media diva. Pacman is from the mean streets of Atlanta. Paris is from the mountains of Malibu. At first glance these two have nothing in common, but a closer look reveals that they do indeed share more than the fact that they have had run-ins with the law.
Pacman showed up this week in Las Vegas to turn himself in to the police. He was sporting a new haircut. According to his attorney, Pacman’s short hair is a sign that he has changed—if it were only that easy.
Paris, in a phone interview with E’s Ryan Seacrest, says that jail has changed her life.
Paris and Pacman are changed people? But are they? Is change really that easy and that quick; or that painless?
A new haircut and a few days in jail make make cosmetic changes possible, but what we’re really talking about here is image. What Paris, Pacman, you, and I need is a change inside that works itself out in our behavior.
One of the Scriptures that has always intimidated me is in 2 Corinthians 5:17:
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17 NIV)
Here is the problem; I am a Christian (AKA; follower of Christ) but I am not completely changed into the person I ought to be. And I am not the only one.
Way too much of Christianity is nothing more than a disembodied form of religion. We say we’re changed, but you can’t see or hear the change in the way we behave in word and deed.
Changing from the inside out is an issue of integrity not image.
You talk about integrity; Jesus had perfect integrity. By that I mean Jesus was always and at all times everything He should have been. He was totally integrated. There was no defect or flaw in his private and public life.
As a Christ follower, the change I see is slow and progressive. On this journey to the new me, I know it takes a lot more than a haircut or an image overhaul to really change into the person I long to be.
My goal is progress not perfection.
Pacman and Paris may be able to change over a weekend, but for me to change into the loving, generous, godly man I long to be is a day-to-day, lifetime struggle.
How are you changing from the inside out? Are you focused on image (outside) or integrity (inside)?