False Fronts

In the book White Noise, the author tells about “the most photographed barn in America” (cited in this article). On going to see the barn, one finds that it is a pretty ordinary barn, plainly unremarkable. The reason that it is “the most photographed barn in America” is because of all the road signs pointing to “the most photographed barn in America.”  People flock to photograph this ordinary object primarily because it is advertised as “the most photographed barn in America.” Better barns exist.

Old, Western TV shows acquainted us with false fronts, or facades. The dusty main street of the wild west town was lined with two-story buildings - except that most of them weren’t. They were one-story buildings with a false front, a facade that gave the appearance of something more grand - and provided a great hiding spot for gun-slingers. This hasn’t changed much, since in our own communities we have men who are 5’11” with front doors double the height, as though perhaps a giraffe lived there.

Paul Tournier, in his book “The Meaning of Persons” makes a distinction between persons and personas. The person is the real you - the persona is the front, the stylized you, that you put on for one group or another. We tend to act different with our parents than we do our peers. We have personas, or false fronts.

Do you ever wonder what is real? How do I know if I’m being played? Or, perhaps worse, how do I know I’m not the one playing, putting on a front, pretending to be something other than the real me? Do I even know the real me?

Am I the same person talking one-on-one as I am speaking in front of a thousand? Does it matter if I’m being recorded? Do I talk differently if I’m recording my own Instagram story? Do I talk like every other person who is recording their Instagram story? Are we just imitating one another? Do we know that if a TV camera is pointed at us, we cannot possibly “just be ourselves?” And in this world when we are always being recorded or watched, can we ever “just be ourselves."

This is an instance when God being the God of truth is so important. He does not/cannot mis-represent Himself, and He knows us as we truly are. The world and those who live in it do not have a clue. But we can get to the bottom of things as we come to know Him, and are known by Him.