IMAGE: Embracing the Jesus Narrative of Freedom

Patty Mata joins us for a chain-breaker of a conversation based on IMAGE; our perceptions of self. So often we can find ourselves frazzled by the pressure to shape ourselves- spiritually, but also in our physical bodies. At the core of our being, we are pursuing wholeness, and we won’t ever find that in a culturally contingent ideal. Psalm 23:3 says, “He makes me whole again, steering me off worn, hard paths to roads where truth and righteousness echo His name.” The Scriptures invite us to a healthier narrative based on trust, submission & even delight in being formed, and loved, by God himself. 

About the Speaker:
Patty Mata currently serves as a campus pastor in MD and is a soon to be church planter in the DC area. Canadian born and a Social Worker by trade, Patty has a passion for serving her community and helping people find freedom in Christ. She also loves her dog and husband, believes coach potato-ing is a lifestyle and has the tendency of laughing at her own jokes. 

Episode Notes:

Who am I reflecting? And why? 

• The truth is that image does matter and isn’t just superficial… it matters to us because it matters to God. But there’s healthy and unhealthy directions this can go. 
• The Beauty Myth: How Images of Beauty Are Used Against Women by Naomi Wolf
• What matters most to God is that we reflect HIS image.. not the carbon copies that our culture has to offer. 
• Image- your perception of self based on larger context of influence.

Q: What is God’s heart around image?

• “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them…  God saw all that he had made, and it was very good…” Genesis 1:27, 31
• We HAVE been created in HIS image, and He already deemed us as GOOD- before any shaping by our own efforts. 

God as architect of the temple: 

• 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, he asks, “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.”
• Am I submitting to God as the architect of ME? In my body and as a person? 
• Or am I trying to take the reins as the architect versus temple maintenance? 

Isaiah 64:8- The voice— Still, Eternal One, You are our Father. We are just clay, and You are the potter. We are the product of Your creative action, shaped and formed into something of worth.”

2 Corinthians 4:4- “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God”

Comparisons and cultural beauty narratives can actually create barriers to unity.

Building habits based on freedom versus based on fear.

• 1 Corinthians 13:4-7…”Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
• These characteristics of love - is this how we love our own bodies? Am I patient with my body? Am I kind to it? etc….

Connect more with Patty: Jesus Ate Too