Are you for real?
June 2, 2009 (Tuesday)
Early movies used special effects when necessary, but most of the time they were not very good. For instance, an airplane in flight was obviously a small model suspended by wires. At times, the wires glistened.
Movies have come a long way in the use of special effects. One of the main reasons has been the use of computers. With these modern miracle makers, you can sit down and watch the Eiffel Tower crumble and fall. It looks so real on screen that you wonder if they really did it. In your heart you know it isn’t real, but it sure looks real.
One problem that this has created is the reliability of photographs as evidence in a court trial. When you see the picture, are you sure what you are looking at was really there, or has the good old computer come into play to change the photograph? Is it real? Or is it deception?
Long before the days of computers with the ability to manipulate photos, people were able to deceive others. Jesus was so upset with the sinfulness of religious leaders in Jerusalem that he called them “hypocrites” several times in a scathing denunciation of their way of life. They said one thing and did another. They were not the real thing.
Each of us needs to look at the reflection in the mirror and ask , “Are you for real?” The answer to that question is important to Jesus.