Thursday, November 07, 2013

Aging Rockers & Me

Aging Rockers Pose As Teenagers To Hit Charts

LONDON (Reuters) - An aging UK rock group gave themselves a facelift by getting a group of teenagers to stand in for them on the video of their latest song, helping them score their first chart hit for some 15 years. Convinced the music industry is prejudiced against wrinkly rockers, The Alarm gave themselves the pseudonym The Poppyfields and persuaded a group of fresh-faced youths to mime their part.

"They did it to show they wanted to be judged on music and not on their image and haircuts of 15 years ago," said a spokesman for the band. The single, 45RPM, went into the UK charts this week at number 28. The Welsh band were previously best known for 1983 hit "68 guns" and said they pulled the stunt to show how much image affected sales in the music industry.
Hey, I liked The Alarm, so I'm all for them getting another hit record... but their "trick" reminded me of, well, me.

They didn't want to be judged on the basis of their image - and neither do I. I don't want for people to judge me based on being a church planter whose church closed, or a guy who can't fix his own car, or a "geek-y" guy who likes board games. (And those negative self-image issues are just skimming the top of my fears & foibles. I got a whole lot more in the grab bag where those came from.)

I want to be judged on the basis of who I am now... but even that's lacking. How many good things can I do to make up for every screwy thing I've ever done? How will I ever earn my way clear of my past, or people's positive and/or negative perceptions of me?

The answer is: not enough. I'm never going to be able to do it.

But God is... in Him, I am a new creation. Not "I've recreated my self" but "I'm re-created in Christ!" (2nd Corinthians 5:17) So I don't need a new image - I have an ever-new God. I have Jesus.

What about you? 


This post originally appeared as an article of The Grapevine, an e-newsletter of NewLife Community Church... way back in February of 2004.

 

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