Everybody, Always

When they make movies in Hollywood, the director will have an assistant
with a black-and-white clapperboard stand in front of the actor and make
a noise when the cameras start rolling. This gives a marker for the
moviemaker to sync the audio and video later. We’ve all seen bad movies
where the audio track isn’t quite synced up with the video track. What
you hear isn’t aligned with what you see people saying. It’s usually not a
big difference, but it can become a big distraction.
My son Richard is an amazingly talented and creative guy. He makes
videos like a boss and was helping me with one of mine. We didn’t have a
clapperboard when we were filming, so Richard just had me clap my
hands to make the marker for syncing up the audio and video. These days,
when I’m speaking to a group of people and find myself talking about the
man I wish I was, rather than the person I am right now, I clap my hands
to remind myself to sync up what I’m saying with what I’m doing.
We should all have beautiful ambitions for our lives and who we
might become, but we also need to sync it up so we’re not fooled into
believing we’ve already arrived at a place in our faith we’ve only been
thinking about going to someday.
Have you noticed when people take photographs of each other, the
person taking the picture is usually smiling too? Check it out for yourself.
I think God does the same thing when He sees us. He’s not trying to bust
us when we fail or when we act like posers. He doesn’t hang photographs
of our mess-ups on the refrigerator. God isn’t in the business of punishing
us with reminders; instead, He pursues us with love. He doesn’t grimace
at our failures; He delights in our attempts.
Here’s the deal: when we act like someone we’re not, it’s often
because we’re not happy with who we are. We might think we need other
people’s permission or love or approval before we can live our lives and
pursue our beautiful ambitions. It’s both good and bad. It’s good if it
causes us to want to pursue Jesus’ love and approval more. But it’s bad if
we miss out on who God uniquely made us to be so we can be who
someone else thinks we should be. God has never looked in your mirror