Mistaken Identity

I didn’t think much of it when a friend said I had walked right by her at a store without saying hello. “I’m sure it was you!” she insisted. Then this became a regular occurrence – friends insisting they had seen me in places I had not been.  The mystery was solved when a friend’s sister happen to work with my “twin.” I never did get a chance to meet her but I was relieved to have pin-pointed her location!  Honestly, I was smug in wondering how she lived her life and whom she associated with since I could be mistaken and possibly linked to some crazy indiscretion.

We can all relate to the yearning involved with protecting our reputations. What about our passion for someone else’s reputation? Are we as jealous for another as we are for ourselves? Christ felt firsthand the anguish of mistaken identity, “Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered…And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, "He is possessed by Beelzebub, by the prince of demons he is driving out demons." God Himself was mistaken for Satan. How could that be? Sometimes mistaken identity has a tidy ending like my own story but in the case of God’s reputation – the great controversy goes on.  There are still people who accuse God of either using Satan as His henchman, or using Satan’s methods like extortion, bribery, manipulation and threats among others...

How can we know for sure what God is like? What is our litmus test? Jesus Christ.We can begin by asking how Jesus lived, why He died and rose again and ask, “What does this tell me about God?” We can open our bibles and turn the pages to find stories that perplex us, inspire us, anger us, and revive us but at the end of the day we are left with a resounding question, “What is God like?” Look to Jesus!

My case of mistaken identity was over 20 years ago yet I still wonder about my "twin" and if our lives share any similarity beyond the physical aspect. Of course I am ashamed at my arrogance in wondering how she lived her life and how that reflected on me. I never considered until much later how it was my own egotistical mindset that needed tweeking - not hers.  It was shocking to look in the mirror and realize that my jealousy and concern for self was, in fact, totally opposed to God's principles!  Christ said, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." - John 15:13. Perhaps Christ was also referring to doing all we can to preserve the life of our neighbor's good name - especially if that name has been ruined already.

If gossip and slander could sit on the face of Evil - they would surely be its tongue and ears for it is by what we say and what we are willing to listen to that has the power for life or death.  Just for today may I be jealous for my neighbor's reputation and be the words of life that Jesus spoke of. Just for today may I look to Jesus!

 - S.N. Belmonte  2008