The actual singer was not pretty enough. Evidently that is why a nine year old Chinese girl lip-synched a song during this year's opening ceremony of the Olympics. The song was actually recorded by a seven year old who had a better voice but was not as photogenic. Viewers only learned later that what they had viewed varied from the truth. Once again I was reminded of the importance of image in our culture. Image-consciousness is not just the domain of Americans.

You and I can easily be caught up in the pursuit of a right image. As social creatures we are often beset with the question, "What do others think about me?" The desire for acceptance can tempt us to project that which we are not. We can be tempted to put our Christian witness on the backburner, telling ourselves, "compromise is okay now. We will get to Christianity later." Sadly, this pursuit of image never provides a good time to bring Christianity to the forefront.

As Christians, we need to realize the importance of being image conscious. The opening pages of scripture teach us that man was made in God's image (Gen. 1:26). God's image in man was marred by Adam's sin (Gen. 3:1 ff.). Thankfully, that is not the end of the story. The remainder of the Old Testament point's the reader to redemption in Jesus Christ. That redemption makes the redeemed new creations in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17) and begins the restoration of the marred image in man. We are to be image-conscious - but with the right focus. As Christians we need to aim for projecting the fact that we are made in God's image. This goal avoids hype and hypocrisy.

What constitutes our being made in the image of God? How does this image-bearing work out in our lives?

In the context of Genesis 1:26 we are made by a sovereign triune God. Discussing man's creation among themselves, the Trinity declares that man is to have dominion over creation. This rule must be exercised in submission to and in agreement with the omnipotent Trinity. As Christians we must grow in our dominion over besetting sins. We must take our thoughts captive for God's glory (2 Cor. 10:5). We have to confess and let go of bitterness. Sinful pride must be constantly kicked out of our lives when we esteem others as better than ourselves (Phil. 2:3, 4). Selfishness must increasingly be replaced for husbands, with a love for our wives that is comparable to Christ's love for the church (Eph. 5:25). All must replace selfishness with as much love (Lev. 19:18) for our neighbor as we have for ourselves. Space does not allow for explanations of taking dominion of our stewardship practice, the environment or technology among many other topics we could explore.

As Christians we are to grow in our knowledge (Col. 3:10). Adam had much knowledge. At his creation, I wonder how many words God immediately put into his vocabulary. He was able to understand God's words (Gen. 1:20 ff, 2:16 ff), name the animals God created (v. 19), and speak about his wife (v.2 3). We are to certainly grow in our knowledge of God through the prayerful study of the Bible. Our knowledge grows in other ways also. As we learn facts we must realize God is behind each one. We must always test knowledge on scriptural principles. We need to examine the justness of a war in terms of biblical teaching. However as we pursue knowledge we must realize we can never be God. Only God is all-knowing. We always have to rest what we cannot know to him. We pursue knowledge to better understand God, the Creator of all knowledge and to use what we learn to glorify God.

God has also given man knowledge of right and wrong. Adam was created holy. He understood what constituted obedience to God (Gen. 2:16-17). He chose to disobey (Gen. 3). His Creator is so holy that He cannot look upon sin (Hab. 1:13). Paul instructs Christians to strive for increasing holiness. Such striving is not for meriting our salvation. The Christian wants to reflect our holy God. We must constantly wage war against sin in our lives, family and society at large. We must strive for righteousness in our work ethics and relationships. This includes showing up on time, performing our tasks without complaint and not taking company property home for ourselves. It means we do not flirt with employees, use profanity or join in on lewd jokes. Pursuing holiness involves our conversation and computer usage. Everything is to be done for God's glory (1 Cor. 10:31).

The command to rebuild the marred image of God within us can easily get lost in the pressure of peers. This does not lessen God's command. We must desire God's pleasure, not the world's passing pleasure. Let us continue to be conscious of the image we reflect. Let us make sure our top priority is the reflection of God's image within us not an image that is solely for the world's attention and for our self-promotion.

©2008 Byron Snapp, Hampton, Virginia