The Only Character You Should Be Imitating Is Jesus
Some great observations by Fr. Freeman.
You are not a Bible character:
The problem with such use of Biblical imagination is that it simply has no controlling story. Nothing tells us which story to use other than our own imagination (which is generally a deluded part of our mind). A governor gets to play King David, and, surprise, he should be forgiven and not resign his office. A group of white settlers get to play conquering Israelites and feel no compunction about murdering men, women and children. A priest, likely in need of therapy, plays the role of Jonah before a crowd who has no idea they are in a play. The gospel is not preached – souls are not saved – the Bible is simply brought into ridicule.
For all of us – Scripture is relevant. However, its relevance should not come as a personal revelation that tells us which character we are within its pages. Such games seem frightfully like the games on Facebook: “Which ancient civilization are you?” or some such nonsense.
You are not a Bible character – other than the one indicated in the New Testament – those who have put their faith in Christ and trusted him for their salvation. Our conversion experiences are whatever they may have been – but the Damascus Road conversion of St. Paul is not required of any but St. Paul.
Unfortunately, we’ve probably all seen this, yet, “ Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good.”
HT: BHT
I was absolutely thunderstruck by the simple elegance of this argument. So amazed was I, that I emailed it to my wife, with the following commmentary:
Her response:
To which I of course replied:
Said she:
The moral of the story? If you come across a Big Truth, try not to share it with anyone who knows you too well.