WEARING SOMEONE ELSE'S HEAD
It was quite the craze in ancient Rome; wearing the body of a god or goddess. Apparently among social elite, preserving one's likeness in stone was a popular fad. In fact, the demand for personal statues was so great, that Greek sculptors working in Rome commissioned their apprentices to crank out stock bodies of Greek gods and goddesses, while the artisans sculpted the heads. Conveniently, the heads were created to fit into a socket.
I suppose it wouldn't be much different from Photo-Shopping my face onto a picture of young Arnold Schwarzenegger's physique (as if anyone would believe it!) But in reality, this highlights a bigger issue in our world today — only we've flipped it around. Rather than "wearing our head" on someone else's body, millions choose to wear the "heads" of others, by allowing cultural forces to shape their thinking.
Beginning with the morning news, the media influences our attitudes. Moving through our day, we repeatedly encounter voices telling us how to think, what to like, how to dress or how much money we should be making. Without realizing it, we repeatedly "remove our heads" in exchange for others. Someone is critical, so we swap our head in exchange for that of People-Pleasing. We mess up and wear the head of Failure. We worry about the future and don the head of Fear. It's clear, many of us are walking around wearing someone else's head.
So what do we do? The answer lies, simply enough, in this statement from Simon Peter. "Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life." (John 6:68) Make a choice to listen to Jesus. His perspective is always correct, and you can't go wrong, wearing Christ's head! God instructs us to "have this mind in you which was also in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 2:5) Refuse to sport any other head; whether it's Wall Street or Madison Avenue or Cable News. Choose to believe what Jesus says about you, about God and the world.
No matter how culture tells you to think; no matter what the world promises, never let go of Jesus. Fads in fashion, politics and religion come and go, but the words of Jesus endure forever. For 2000 years, Christ's enemies have feverishly labored to destroy his influence, yet he still remains the prominent figure of human civilization. When you encounter an idea which runs contrary to what Jesus says, keep your head on your shoulders. Don't wear someone else's head; no matter how smart, how famous or how much you like them.