The Human Chameleon.

The Human Chameleon.

Ephesians 4:1-3, 14-16

In a world of smart phones, text messages, Facebook, and e-dating, many are creating virtual relationships which mask a person’s true identity in an attempt to protect themselves from the reality of real relationship. They want to avoid the possible heartache and pain that can occur when love is not reciprocated. Others fill their lives with work, recreation or entertainment in an attempt to avoid deep relationships. And yet, as we attempt to protect ourselves, we become less human, and wander farther from the Creator’s purpose for our lives which is to love both God and neighbor as ourselves.

Ephesians 4:1-3NIV As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. 2 Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. 3 Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.

Paul then speaks about the gifts Jesus gave to the Church, the body of Christ. These gifts were meant to keep the body from getting off course.

Ephesians 4:11, So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers.

He gave these gifts for the work of the ministry. Therefore in return, the body of Jesus Christ would continue to grow, and not be weakened or hindered.

Ephesians 4:14-16NIV Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. 16 From him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.

In Woody Allen’s film Zelig. The main character is a deeply insecure, awkward, and shallow man named Leonard Zelig. Zelig is also described as “the human chameleon” because he routinely adjusts his personality to fit-in with whatever group of people he happens to be with. In one scene, Zelig is pictured as a compassionate servant of the poor, feeding the hungry alongside Mother Teresa.

In a different scene, while in the company of Nizzi soldiers, he raises his right hand and declares, “Hail Hitler!”

At a party hosted by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Zelig hobnobs with the movers and shakers, awkwardly inserting himself into conversations and posing as an important high-society sort. Soon after this, he is back in the kitchen with the servants and staff, hurling insults in a gruff, blue-collar-friendly voice toward all those snobbish “fat cats” on Fitzgerald’s guest list.

Eventually, Zelig finds himself in a crisis because he realizes he has no identity of his own. His chameleon nature catches up with him.

To address his problem, he hires a hypnotherapist named Eudora Fletcher, who puts him into a trance. The following conversation ensues:

Dr. Fletcher: Tell me why you assume the characteristics of the person you are with?

Zelig: It’s safe.

Dr. Fletcher: What do you mean, what do you mean, “safe?”

Zelig: Safe. To…to be like the others.

Dr. Fletcher: You want to be safe?

Zelig: I want to be liked.

Zelig is a portrait of the human chameleon in all of us. Like Zelig, we want to be safe—we want to be liked—because rejection is simply too painful to bear.

Again Paul writes in, Ephesians 4:2TPT With tender humility and quiet patience, always demonstrate gentleness and generous love toward one another, especially toward those who may try your patience.

Mariah Carey, one of the most successful artists in the history of pop music, in which she said that if she hears a thousand words of praise and one word of criticism, that one criticism will eliminate the thousand praises in her mind.

As Christians, we have an obligation, to take up the identity Jesus paid dearly for.

Hand out—I am a joint-heir Romans 8:17. I am more that a conqueror through Him who loves me Romans 8:37 etc.

Ephesians 4:3TM And mark that you do this with humility and discipline—not in fits and starts, but steadily, pouring yourselves out for each other in acts of love, alert at noticing differences and quick at mending fences.

Jack Miller once said, “God’s grace flows downhill to the low places, not uphill to the pompous and put-together places.”

Jesus gave His greatest commands to live by in, Matthew 22:37-39NKJV Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and great commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’