In Part 2 of my American Idols series, the focus is on body image and the distorted forms it can take.
Thin Is In
My earliest memory dealing with body image was in elementary school, I remember spending hours compiling a scrapbook that included fitness articles, exercise how-to's, and pictures of thin women cut from magazines. Women who I secretly wished I could look like: physically fit, slender, and blemish-free. Looking back now, it saddens me to think that in fifth grade, I was already obsessing about my weight (and comparing myself to an adult ideal). I remember turning in that scrapbook for a school project that year and the teacher expressed some concern, worried that I was equating my worth with exterior appearance. A few years later, I did toss that book, realizing it was not the most healthy hobby to continually fixate on an unrealistic ideal. That was the first idol in my life that I had to cast down but it wouldn't be the last.
One Image Fits All
Americans have become consumed by conformity that one size should fit all. That no matter how tall you are or what age or stage in life, that all women should fit within a very narrowly defined window of acceptable weight. As marketing campaigns and media influence have grown over the years, teens and adults alike have become increasingly obsessed with trying to meet an ideal standard. Magazines, movies, and sitcoms frequently set before us images of half-starved models and actresses. Some of whom become trapped by eating disorders or recreational drug use in order to maintain a low weight. After all, image is everything and beauty sells (at least Hollywood's version of beauty).
Today, everyone can be the star of their own "movie" via social media, as the pressure to look our best (at whatever cost), is very high. Photo editing and filters are literally at anyone's fingertips, offering the power to craft an image of ourselves that may or may not fit with reality. We can present a flawless digital image of ourselves to the world (and may unknowingly contribute to the pressure others may feel to meet an impossible standard).
The images we are bombarded with are often not true reality. When the camera cannot hide a flaw, editors can take a few pounds off here and there or edit away a mole or other perceived imperfection. We have become a culture that expects perfection of figure and complexion. The pressure for women to present a perfected image has become greater and greater. Make-up can cover skin imperfections, and plastic surgery can redesign both the features we were born with or what time has eroded. Perfection of the body has become an idol that consumers pay dearly for.
Through the years of falling woefully short of what I considered the ideal size, I struggled with self-hatred and embarrassment over being overweight. I had an older sister who occasionally took me along to a local beach (mostly to sunbathe; I don't remember swimming). One particular day I remember a conversation we had. I had seen some fellow classmates and I didn't want them to see me in my swimsuit. My sister's comment was something like, worrying about what people think of you is just as self-centered as seeking out attention. Whether desiring to be seen or shrinking into the background, both extremes were self-centered. Ouch. But I realize now how right she was. Much of my life has been absorbed by thoughts of self-loathing over a muffin top, embarrassment that I'd outgrown another pair of jeans, or worry about a family gathering where people would see I had gained weight (again). Self was on the throne of my life and consumed nearly every waking moment throughout my childhood and into adulthood. When self is all that fills my mind, I have made it an idol.
Glorifying Gluttony
Self-loathing often led to extreme attempts at losing weight. I can't even remember all the diets I have tried over the years but my efforts to exercise or eat healthier were always short-lived. Instead of making life-long changes, I would restrict myself for a time and then return to unhealthy habits, continually returning to food to anesthetize pain or discomfort. Chocolate, ice cream, salty snacks were the cure for hurt feelings, loneliness, frustration, exhaustion, boredom or an excuse for celebration. Gluttony soon became an idol in my life. And while I struggled through years of obesity, there was a growing movement in America to not only accept obesity but to promote and celebrate it. Now if one suggests that it is unhealthy to carry 50, 100, or more excess pounds on one's body, you are accused of being intolerant and prejudiced or accused of engaging in hate speech. To celebrate the habitual overindulgence of food and drink is to worship at the altar of gluttony.
{Do} Look at Me
There is no doubt that Americans idolize physical beauty. Having struggled so many years with obesity, my weight (and those around me), were often a focus. One thing about the weight loss industry that made me uncomfortable was seeing women lose weight and then start wearing clothes that were less than modest. The goal of losing weight should not be to flaunt a smaller body. Being thin does not give you a pass to dress immodestly much less provocatively. When you lose weight for the primary purpose of showing off your body, you have lost sight of who owns your body.
I Corinthians 6:19-20 makes body ownership clear:
"Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body."
When you dress in a way to call attention to yourself by wearing tight dresses, plunging necklines or a skimpy bikini, is your primary goal to glorify God or to bring glory to yourself? Our body is meant to be a temple--not for others to worship, but to be a fitting and pleasing dwelling for God Himself to inhabit.
Balanced Beauty
What all those areas have in common is self. Whether we focus on hating or exalting self, it is still a pre-occupation with self. And in our effort to feel better about ourselves, Americans have become adept at crafting a definition of beauty that aligns with the self we want to be and the behavior we want to engage in.
I want to make it clear that our worth does not come from what size we are, any more than it comes from how much we earn, or what kind of car we drive, or the house we live in. We only have worth because God created us in his image:
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them." Genesis 1:27
When God created man, it was the first of his creation to be called "very good." Everything up to that point had been merely "good." There was something special about humans. Only man was created in the image of God with the capacity to reflect His character (albeit imperfectly). Think of it, each one of us has been declared wonderfully made by the God of the universe in Psalm 139:13-15,
"For You formed my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are Your works, and I know this very well. My frame was not hidden from You when I was made in secret, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth."
I have already mentioned that we were created for worship, but not to be worshipped. Man was created in God's image, but was not intended to be an object of worship. The Israelites continually sought to create graven images to worship, and we in our 21st century arrogance, think ourselves so far ahead of those primitive cultures. And yet, we too, engage in our own forms of idolatry and worship the creature instead of the Creator.
It wasn't until my physical self became riddled with health problems that I decided I could no longer make allowances for the sin of gluttony and I purposed that losing weight was going to be about better glorifying God and not about glorifying me. The idols of society's version of perfection, and the glorification of gluttony must be thrown into the fire of God's refinement each and every day. It is only when those idols are cast down, that I find the freedom to worship God more completely.
I pray today that you would cast away the idol of self--in whatever form it takes--so that nothing will interfere with you bringing glory to the Creator. Let's take care of the body we were given and that has been declared wonderfully made. Let's decide today that we will no longer desecrate or exalt the body, but treat it with proper care (as a good steward), so that we may have the energy and health needed to point others to the Savior who made us and died for us, that self could be crucified with Him once and for all.
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