Campaign for Unflattering Profile Pictures

Unflattering Profile Pic

I've been thinking for sometime now about how we always seem to put our best face forward. Take Facebook for example... We carefully select which picture we think markets us the best and upload that photo to say "this is me" to anyone who clicks on our profile. I'll be the first to admit that I avoid uploading those photos of myself showing multiple chins and a mouth gaping wide open. I am, however, at the mercy of my friends who choose to upload unflattering photos of me. If I had the veto power, I would exercise it!

Many of us are so image-conscious and conditioned to think about how we market ourselves on a daily basis to the world around us. With a world covered in lipstick and rouge, it's hard to see people for who they really are. It's also hard for us to allow others to see us for who we really are. Image obsession seems to me to be a fairly serious roadblock to authenticity, depth, and relationship.

With so much image comes so little transparency. With so little transparency, comes very little authenticity. We have become masters of hiding who we really are, concealing what we really struggle with and obscuring the cracks and fragments in our lives. Our clandestined Christian existence gives the impression to others wearing the same disguise that we are just fine, doing well, and have our act together.

Transparency is not about trying to act right. It is, instead, a willingness to be open and honest about what is really going on in our lives. I heard a speaker say once that it simply means admitting what the bible already says about us: we are fallen people who desperately need the Father in our lives everyday. Our generation is image-obsessed, but it also craves authentic relationships intensely. Like Jesus, we should be modelling openess and transparency in daily living.

A little transparency would be refreshing. I suppose if we were to start anywhere, we could start with an unflattering profile pic. It wouldn't hurt for us to be able to laugh at ourselves and not take our self-image so seriously either. It is going to take a lot more than that to change our image-is-everything culture, but perhaps it's a humorous place to start.

I'm heading over to Facebook now...