You remember Miss Piggy. She was the loud, flamboyant, glamorous, excessive, vain girlfriend (or wife, I’m not exactly sure which) of Kermit the Frog on The Muppets.
Miss Piggy had a no-holds-barred attitude and outlook on life. Her view of life was, Eat what you want, exercise your prerogative, and find a good plastic surgeon that gives frequent-flyer miles. It’s hard not to like a person like that. She had life figured out!
Miss Piggy always had some grandiose scheme that would make her more glamorous, more successful, and the best of the best … a star that everybody else would envy. However, despite all her grandiose schemes, there was one fact of life Miss Piggy couldn’t escape: She was a pig! However, to her credit, it was also a fact she embraced.
Now, I’m sure some of you are wondering why I am sharing information about Miss Piggy with you in a Spiritual column. I do so to make the point that, in my opinion, from time to time, all of us suffer to some degree from what I call Miss Piggy Syndrome. In life, we all strive to reach a higher level of success. We all want others to recognize our accomplishments and look up to us. As a result of this desire, sometimes we project an image of ourselves that is a little more boisterous, flamboyant, and perhaps a little more glamorous than we are. But the truth is that regardless of the façade we present to the world, whatever we do, whatever we are, and whatever we ultimately desire to become, must be reconciled to the reality of who we really are. Our Spiritual DNA (who we are in our heart and soul) must be in harmony with our life. You see, in life, true success is not determined by what the world perceives us to be, but rather by whether or not we have embraced what God has created and designed us to be, and whether or not we are “fleshing out” (living) our lives in harmony with that design.
As a young pastor, one of the most liberating days of my life was when I figured out that the only person God wanted me to be … was me. You see, in the early days of my pastoral/preaching ministry, I labored under the false assumption that to be successful, I had to pattern myself after other preachers that the world deemed successful. Consequently, if I had listened to Billy Graham before I preached on Sunday, I would have tried to be Billy Graham that Sunday. If I heard Oral Roberts, Jimmy Swaggert, Adrian Rogers, Charles Stanley, or some other big-time preacher during the week, that’s who my people got on Sunday. Is it any wonder that during the early days of my ministry, I stayed as confused as a termite in a yo-yo? Is it any wonder my congregation stayed as confused as a termite in a yo-yo?
Not long ago, I spoke with Brother ST Janney, Pastor of Hilyer Baptist Church in LaGrange, GA, my home church and one of my former pastorates. He asked me to preach the Homecoming service. Then he told me they had found some old cassette tapes of sermons I preached while serving as pastor. He asked if I wanted them. I said, “Sure!” So, I went by the church and picked them up. I listened to one, and the first thing I did during my Homecoming sermon was to apologize to the church members who were there while I was pastor. All I can say is they must have really loved me! And I haven’t listened to any more of those sermons. It was depressing!
Anyway, back to my story … As I’ve already stated, Spiritual liberty came in my ministry when I figured out that the only person God wanted me to be … was me. I distinctly remember God causing me to realize that I could never be a Billy Graham, Charles Stanley, Adrian Rogers, or any other preacher. I could never accomplish what He had created them to do. However, He also made me realize that, although I could never do what He created them to do, they could never do what He had created me to do. You see, I’m a one-off, custom-made, specially made model. There’s not another like me. Nobody else has my DNA, fingerprints, personality, or calling from God. Of all the people alive on planet Earth today, I’m the only one who can be successful at being me! That was profound, wasn’t it? Guess what? Of all the people alive on planet Earth today, you’re the only one who can be successful at being you. Isn’t that a liberating thought? Believe it or not, you are a unique, specially-made model. Nobody else has your DNA, fingerprints, personality, or calling from God. Each of us can echo the sentiments of the Psalmist when he declared to God in Psalms 139:14: I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.
Now, am I going to suggest to you that I never struggle with the Miss Piggy Syndrome? Lord no! I can “put on the dog” with the best of you. I tend to think of myself as much more important than I am. If you don’t believe me, ask my wife, Marianne. She wishes she could buy me for what I’m worth and sell me for what I think I’m worth. She could retire and be financially secure for the rest of her life.
Seriously, I learned a long time ago just to be who I am. In life, people will either accept you or reject you. They will love you or hate you. But be that as it may, be sure they love or hate you, accept or reject you for who you really are, not merely because of some façade you are projecting.
We become a double failure when we take on the Miss Piggy Syndrome. We’re not the person we’re presenting, and we’re not ourselves. When speaking to his son, Jeff Easter’s dad had a saying that cuts to the chase. He told him, Son, always be who you is, ‘cause if you ain’t who you is, you is who you ain’t. Now, I know that’s not correct grammar, but it illustrates my point very well. When we try to be somebody we’re not, we stop being the person God created us to be … our self!
I wonder how many people afflicted with Miss Piggy Syndrome are reading this column today. I also find myself wondering why in the world I’m thinking about the parable of the Prodigal Son. Could it be because, as with the Prodigal Son, life has many of us in the pigpen … and unlike Miss Piggy … we’re not a pig? Could it be that, as the Prodigal Son, deep within us, despite our present circumstances, beats the heart of a Nobleman’s son? William Shakespeare said it like this, This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be false to any man.
In his book Visioneering, Andy Stanley says, Everybody winds up somewhere in life. A few people wind up somewhere on purpose. These are the ones with vision.
Miss Piggy Syndrome tempts us all. We overcome it by purposely identifying and becoming who God created us to be.
I wonder why I have an overwhelming desire to yell … soooeeeyyy?
Brother Aaron