Perception

I saw an ad today for the new retro Camaro by Chevrolet. One of the adjectives used to describe this exciting new car was "ATHLETIC". How is one car more athletic than another? Does one average more points per game, run more touchdowns, or hit more home runs than the other one? C'mon.....give me a break. Or is it that YOU will be more athletic if you are driving a new Camaro, instead of say.......my old 87 Dodge Aspen stationwagon with the fake wood grain on the side that we deemed "the Wuss Mobile"? Still, will my golf score improve if I am driving an "athletic" car instead of a mini-van? I wish. Evidently millions of consumers buy into the myth. How many times have you heard a car being described as being "sexier" than the others. How does that work? Does one have bigger head lights and a wider rear bumper than the others? Yeah, right.

It's all about perception, isn't it? So, how are you being perceived? I know it's possible for people to get the wrong perception of you, but for the most part those folks who know you best have got you pretty well pegged. What ever way it is that they perceive you, it's for a reason........you gave them that perception. Why are some people in your office known as "not a morning person"? Did those folks just make that up? Probably the "not morning person" comes in grumpy a lot.....duh!
So again I ask, how are YOU being perceived?

Do you remember one perception the religious leaders had about Jesus, that he was too worldly and spent too much time with "sinners"? Why did they have that perception? How about because it was TRUE! Because he ate and drank (not grape juice, by the way) with "sinners", they accused him of being a glutton and drunkard. The glutton and drunkard part were lies......but the part about being "a friend of sinners" was dead on. He was and IS a friend to them.

When is the last time your congregation was accused of being too worldly? Do other congregations have the perception that your fellowship is outward focused or inward focused? What ever perception they have, it's probably true.

In closing, I ask this question to you, personally.......When is the last time your character came into question because of who you were hanging out with? Maybe for some of us, it's been too long. Nobody has accused me of being a drug addict, a pimp, or being gay since.....hmmm, ever! I used to think that was a good thing. I am not there anymore. Now I need to work on getting accused of being one of those things, don't I?!?

Perception. Everybody has one.........about you. Scary, huh?