Dennis Rodman, Donald Trump, and Image Management

I'm talking about Dennis Rodman a little bit on Sunday. Enough said. Not political, by the way. Talking about the cat in terms of the human heart and our capacity to deceive ourselves.

Today, on Twitter, Donald Trump who, at various points in his life has a lot of money and at each point in his life has a lot of hair, said this:

"It's important to present an image of yourself each and every day".

No, it's not.

It's important to be who you really are each and every day so you never have to spend one God-given second worrying about your image.

The opposite of "image" is integrity.

Integrity is when we are the same person all the time.

None of us do this perfectly, Lord knows.

But it's how we are meant to live.

The worst moments in my life were when I was not walking in integrity. When my public image was different than my private reality.

In reality, I am tightly wound, impatient, prone to anger, cry easily at stuff, am sentimental about some things, love my kids, am extremely blunt, am extremely loyal, and am absolutely committed to a life mission. I try to talk about all that stuff in my teaching ministry in more or less equal proportions.

When I let that stuff show through, I am all good. When I try to "manage" the way I am perceived, I get into trouble.

"Image management" is such a fascinating term because it implies that I must apply management techniques to how I am perceived.

Why not just be the same person all the time, open my thoughts and actions to Jesus every day, say when I have screwed up, and let the perception stuff take care of itself?

"Whoever walks in integrity will be delivered, but he who is crooked in his ways will suddenly fall" - Proverbs 28:18