Lip-Syncing to God

The 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing produced several stories about the Chinese government’s propaganda campaign, making their country look as nice as possible for the cameras. But the worst example of this was when it was discovered that they used a young girl for their image. Nine-year-old Lin Miaoke sang a beautiful rendition of “Ode to the Motherland,” which led to an outburst of applause from an impressed audience. Later the truth came out: Miaoke was only lip-syncing. Seven-year-old Yang Peiyi pre-recorded the song so that Miaoke could act as if she were the one singing. The truth is awful: Peiyi had the better voice, but Miaoke had the better face. A Communist Party official made the decision to pull the fast one because Peiyi had lost her front teeth, and they had not fully grown back in.

Think about what a terrible message that sent to those young girls about their image. Miaoke was made to believe that her looks are so important that, even if she did not possess the talent needed, she would still get to go on stage and hear the applause. Peiyi was made to believe that, no matter how talented she may be, her looks are more important. If you aren’t pretty enough, according to the opinion of someone else, then nothing else matters.

That superficial evaluation is a bad message, but there is another point that should not be overlooked. We tell people it is not what is on the outside that matters, but what is on the inside. That is also true of spiritual matters. Just as the Chinese government tried to impress the world with what was on the outside, people today try to impress God and others by the outward appearance. They think that going to church and dressing their best, saying things like, “God bless you” to everyone, or sounding like Shakespeare when they pray will give the appearance that they are better Christians or closer to God. But if those things do not come from a pure heart, they are nothing more than propaganda pieces for others’ benefit.

God cannot be fooled, so just be yourself. If you are doing things to make yourself look more spiritual, you are just lip-syncing to someone else’s voice. When Samuel was looking to anoint the future king of Israel, he was looking for someone big and strong, someone who looked the part. But the Lord told the prophet, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature…for the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).” God sees your heart already, so there is no point in pretending.