I have a difficult relationship with social media. Maybe it is because when I was growing up, one of the worst things you could be told was to “stop showing off”. It was hugely embarrassing to be told that your behaviour was simply a ploy to get people to pay attention to you. Yet there seems to be a lot of people who want to present an amazing version of themselves by carefully posting things on their feeds that may or may not bear any relationship to who they actually are. How they appear to others becomes the most important thing. We have high opinions of ourselves and so we will want people to buy the illusion. In doing so we make a number of sacrifices and compromises as to our nature so we can appear as appealing as possible to those we are trying to impress.
In our reading today we see the dangers of thinking too highly of oneself. Herod Antipas and his wife, Herodias, had very high opinions of their status. Herodias was fed up with John the Baptist claiming that her marriage was illegal and, in order to keep him safe, Herod Antipas had John put in protective custody. Herodias felt that her reputation was worth more than John’s liberty or freedom of speech. When Antipas makes a bold promise at his birthday party, he thinks he will suffer a considerable loss of face if he refuses the request for the head of John. He considers his reputation and standing as more important than the life of John. As a consequence, John is murdered so Herod can look gracious and generous.
One of the hardest things to look at is ourselves. Do we have a high opinion of ourselves and go to great lengths to preserve it? What do we sacrifice in order to look good for others? Do we cut off old friends because they do not fit in with our new ones? Do we ignore people or situations for the fear that if we are seen associating with them, others will think less of us? Do we compromise our values to appeal to others? Do we laugh at the cruel joke or put down to gain favour? Do we hide our past to become more acceptable? Do we make apologies for people we know in case they are seen as an embarrassment? Who are we hurting by our need to be seen as “cool”? If we are to be followers of Jesus, we need to develop a servant heart that loves everyone. We need to be humble servants who respond to the needs of others rather than ourselves. When we look in the mirror, we need to see someone who cares more about others than how they look to the world. Living as Jesus did makes us influencers for the betterment of all, not simply the few.