{"id":3889,"date":"2024-08-07T06:50:09","date_gmt":"2024-08-07T10:50:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/js1cd06kre.onrocket.site\/?p=3889"},"modified":"2024-08-07T06:50:54","modified_gmt":"2024-08-07T10:50:54","slug":"outside-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/2024\/08\/07\/outside-in\/","title":{"rendered":"Outside In"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, <\/em>click here<\/a>

A bit of makeup might have changed the course of history.

Vice-President Richard Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy were neck-and-neck in the race for the White House in 1960.

For the first time during an American election, the candidates would engage in a live televised debate. CBS played host in Chicago. To ensure that both men looked their best, the network flew in Frances Arnold, their makeup expert.

JFK arrived from the west coast looking tan and relaxed. He declined Ms. Arnold\u2019s services, although one of his assistants dabbed him with some Max Factor Cr\u00e8me Puff.

Nixon arrived looking exhausted, and (as always) like he could use a shave. He may have been fighting a cold. When he found out that Kennedy wasn\u2019t going to wear makeup, he decided there was no way he was going to go down in history as the guy with the painted face on national TV. He also said no to Franny Arnold.

In the words of historian Rick Beyer, \u201cBad call.\u201d

Even though one of his assistants touched up his face with a product called Shave Stick, Nixon, under the bright lights of the debate platform, looked pale and sweaty.

The vice-president actually performed admirably. A majority of those who listened to the debate on the radio concluded that he had won the night.

It didn\u2019t matter. An astonishing 60 million people (about one-third of the US population at the time) watched the event unfold on television. When they looked at Kennedy, they saw a healthy, energetic, young visionary pointing the nation toward a bright future. Nixon, by contrast, looked like death warmed over.

The election tide turned. That November, JFK vaulted to the Oval Office by just a few thousand votes. It was the first time a flat screen image was credited with reshaping the perceptions of America\u2019s voters.

It certainly wouldn\u2019t be the last.

Makeup, scripted sound bites, and \u201cimpression management\u201d \u2013 painstakingly crafted by teams of professionals \u2013 have become campaign fixtures.

It\u2019s arguable that William Howard Taft, who weighed in at 325 pounds and could barely fit into the White House bathtub, may not have been \u201celectable\u201d in the TV era. The same might also have been true of Abraham Lincoln, whose gangly frame, ill-fitting clothes, and homely face were the source of endless ridicule.

Nowadays it\u2019s essential to look \u201cpresidential,\u201d whatever that might mean.

In our digital age, that\u2019s understandable. But that doesn\u2019t mean we\u2019re free to make the disastrous mistake of concluding that character is therefore \u201cnice but not necessary.\u201d

Saul, Israel\u2019s first king, was blessed with compelling external attributes. The Bible describes him as a head taller than any of his peers. In the book of I Samuel his public career takes off like an ascending rocket.

But then his heart, or lack thereof, becomes dramatically apparent. His disobedience and cowardice plunge the young nation into political and spiritual chaos.

Wise old Samuel, God\u2019s voice for that generation, feels remorse. But God quickly gives him new marching orders. \u201cThe Lord said to Samuel, \u2018How long will you mourn for Saul, since I have rejected him as king over Israel? Fill your horn with oil and be on your way; I am sending you to Jesse of Bethlehem. I have chosen one of his sons to be king\u2019\u201d (I Samuel 16:1).

Samuel heads for Bethlehem, which up to this point in history is not much more than a wide place in the road. Jesse lives here \u2013 a man who has eight sons. Jesse has to feel awestruck that Samuel has asked to meet with his family. What could this possibly mean? 

Check out verse six: \u201cWhen they arrived, Samuel saw Eliab [Jesse\u2019s oldest son] and thought, \u2018Surely the Lord\u2019s anointed stands here before the Lord.\u2019\u201d

We gather from this verse that Eliab is one impressive fellow. Here\u2019s a guy who can get things done. 

Author and pastor John Ortberg suggests he\u2019s president of the student council, captain of the lacrosse team, and drives around in a Cadillac Escalade. Ortberg adds that the Hebrew meaning of Eliab is apparently, \u201cYou da man.\u201d For years his father and his brothers have looked at him and said, \u201cYou da man.\u201d Now Samuel looks him up and down and says, \u201cThat\u2019s right. You da man.\u201d 

God, however, looks at Eliab and says, \u201cHe not da man.\u201d 

I Samuel 16:7 is one of the great memory verses of the Bible: \u201cThe Lord said to Samuel, \u2018Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things that people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.\u2019\u201d

God looks at the heart.<\/em>

That\u2019s why, before this day is over, Samuel will anoint David \u2013 the eighth of Jesse\u2019s eight sons \u2013 to be the next king of Israel, all because he is \u201cthe man after God\u2019s own heart.\u201d 

Who we are on the inside always matters most.

Sadly, that\u2019s not always the case for the watching world. But it will always be true for the One who rules the cosmos.

God\u2019s opinions, after all, can never be swayed by a few dabs of makeup.
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To listen to today’s reflection as a podcast, click here A bit of makeup might have changed the course of history. Vice-President Richard Nixon and Senator John F. Kennedy were neck-and-neck in the race for the White House in 1960. For the first time during an American election, the candidates would engage in a live televised debate. CBS played host in… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3890,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[230],"class_list":["post-3889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-character"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3889"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3889\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3892,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3889\/revisions\/3892"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3890"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glennsreflections.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}