Esse quam videri - to be rather than to seem to be

Esse quam videri

Esse quam videri – to be rather than to seem. Latin. Found in Plato's Republic (361BCE). The motto for the state of Carolina USA and of many school/university mottos around the world.

The nature of God (who is always self-consistent; is the embodiment of truth; is reliable and trustworthy) and the bible (through its many characters, stories and scriptures) exhorts us to BE rather than to just SEEM TO BE (Esse quam videri).

Psalm 15 "LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary? Who may live on your holy hill? He whose walk is blameless and who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from his heart and has no slander on his tongue, who does his neighbor no wrong and casts no slur on his fellowman, who despises a vile man but honors those who fear the LORD, who keeps his oath even when it hurts, who lends his money without usury and does not accept a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things will never be shaken."

Proverbs 19:22 "Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment. There is deceit in the hearts of those who plot evil, but joy for those who promote peace. No harm befalls the righteous, but the wicked have their fill of trouble. The LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful."

We are exhorted to be self-consistent/true to God, to others and to ourselves.

Truthful to God

The bible exhorts us to be truthful with him…

1 Samuel 16: 7 "But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

Acts 5:3-6 "Then Peter said, "Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land?…You have not lied to men but to God." When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died…"

Truthful to others

The bible exhorts us to be truthful with one another…

Col 3:9-10 "Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator."

Psalm 34:12-13 "Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days, keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies."

Lev 19:11 "Do not steal. Do not lie. Do not deceive one another."

Healthy friendships/relationships depend on both people being truthful. What you see is what you get. It doesn't take a woman long to see through the façade (intending to conceal something unpleasant) and when that happens the relationship comes under pressure. The best relationships are built on truth, trust, vulnerability, honesty, sincerity, etc. Esse quam videri – To BE rather than to just SEEM TO BE.

And finally, and not to be understated…

Truthful to one self

The bible exhorts us to be truthful to ourselves…

Psalm 36: 1-3 "An oracle is within my heart concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: There is no fear of God before his eyes. For in his own eyes he flatters himself too much to detect or hate his sin. The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful; he has ceased to be wise and to do good."

Lam 3:40 "Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD." Introspection

Proverbs 20:5 "The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out."

Romans 12:3 "For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you." Have an accurate picture of yourself.

Rev 3:17 "You say, 'I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.' But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked."

How do we get an accurate view of ourselves. We are who God made us to be but why do we find it difficult to see ourselves as God sees us. We all have a self-image (the way we see ourselves) that may or may not be very accurate.

Errant self-perception/self-deception - we act the way we are expected to behave or according to the internal self-image we have.

How do you see yourself and why? - Are you a looser/champion; good-looking/ugly; smart/dumb; faithful/unfaithful; practical/intellectual

How has your self-image been formed? – good/bad experience; achievement/failure, trauma; positive reinforcement; love; divine revelation; encouragement/discouragement;

Is your self-image healthy or unhealthy? Is it constructive or destructive?

We are sometimes false/pretentious (pretending to be other that what we are) or even hypocritical (doing other that we instruct/expect others to do).

Here are some of the forces at work that inspire us to be other that what we are:

Ignorance

We have no-idea who we are. We act as we have seen role-models act but can't always pull it off/ it doesn't quite fit/feel right. We can't articulate what we stand for/what we believe in/what out values are. We don't have anyone who feels the freedom to speak into our lives/to speak the truth in love/to confront us. We are still young and live in the shadow of others/we haven't yet found our own voice.

It is the duty of a friend to speak the truth in love. Usually they'll need to be invited.

Fear

Fear of loosing acceptance/respect/admiration/friendship of others

We fear that we might be rejected by those that we respect/fear. We hold being true to ourselves as an important ideal but one that that we can easily set aside when the going gets tough. Our self-image depends on the acceptance of others/we don't want to rock-the-boat. Our sense of self-worth comes from others' opinions of us/we look to others to see ourselves.

Story: me as teenage MC having learned the tricks from observing others hid behind them so that the insecure me could not be seen. Two good friends challenged the up-front me. The next time I the real me acted as MC – it was a disaster. It took me a long time to face my internal self-deceptions/perceptions and become self-secure/assured…to have a healthy/balanced self-esteem.

Peter and the three-crowed cock…Matthew 26:31-35, 69-75…Peter was destined to be the rock on which Christ would build his church (Matt 16-18).

1 John3:13 "Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you." You should expect rejection.

Romans 14:22-23 "So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the man who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But the man who has doubts is condemned if he eats, because his eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin."

The antithesis of Faith (to be secure in imagined knowledge) is Fear (to be insecure in imagined knowledge) and fear we are told is sin (separating us from God but through the reconciliation of faith in Jesus).

The spiritual man

So, what does the spiritual man look like…

The spiritual man is more interested in "being" than "seeming to be".

The spiritual man is truthful to God.

The spiritual man is truthful to others.

The spiritual man understands himself and is truthful to himself.

The spiritual man will be known by the fruit of his life.

The spiritual man can't be intimidated.

Consider the pattern of you life

Consider the pattern of you life

What is your primary fantasy? If you could have or do anything at the moment what would it be?

What do you plan to do over the next 6 months? Where do you want to be in 10 years time?

What are your ambitions? What are you working towards?

What do you spend most of your time doing?

It is perfectly natural to be self-oriented

How do other people's interests figure into your priorities?

What would you be prepared to fight and/or die for? Self? Possessions? Friend? Stranger?

Are you caring for anyone who is poor, disabled, sick, abused, dysfunctional, oppressed, lost, or depressed?

You have a higher calling

The path is narrow…

Matthew 7:13-14 13"Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it."

It requires you to give up your time, money, will, life…

Matthew 10:39 "Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

Following Jesus' example, we take on God nature/priorities…

Micah 6:8 "He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

This is how:

1. Don't get distracted by money

Luke 12:15 "Then he said to them, "Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; a man's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

John 6:27 "Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. On him God the Father has placed his seal of approval."

Matthew 6:19-21 "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

2. Put others' interests before your own

Phil2:3-4 "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others."

Luke 6: 29 "If someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. If someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic."

John 15:12-13 "My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

3. Fight for those that can't fight and give your time and money generously

James 1: 27 "Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world."

Matthew 25:44-46 "They also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?' "He will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.' "Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life"

Psalm 82:3-4 "Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. "

1 John 3: 16-18 "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth."

Mother Teresa "When a poor person dies of hunger, it has not happened because God did not take care of him or her. It has happened because neither you nor I wanted to give that person what he or she needed."

Opportunities for service

Where at the poor, the downtrodden, the marginalized, the needy? You know they are out there…but where?

Why aren't they visible? Do we look the other way, avoid contact, and deny the problem?

Matthew 6:9-15 "9"This, then, is how you should pray: 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.'"

We are told to pray that his kingdom will be established on Earth. What does that Kingdom look like? It will bear a resemblance to the King; his nature will be the nature of the Kingdom. His values will be the Kingdom's values. Justice and mercy will be provided to all. There will be no suffering. Truth and love will be seen everywhere.

This is what we work to bring. We have to bring the fight to the battlefield. We have seek out injustice and redress it. We have to find poverty and help alleviate it. Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress!

Consider short-term mission

I encourage all of you to go on a short-term mission. Bring your trade-skills to where they are needed. Discover your gifts. Work out what you want the pattern of your life to look like. You are young a free; a window that will sooner than you think. See the world. Find a wife.

What do you think?