Fabricated Personalities

As we struggle with our identity, many will dress up in defense mechanisms to avoid conflict or rejection.  This is part of a fabricated personality.  God has taught us we do not have to disguise ourselves, we have to be transparent.  I do not find disguise used as a spiritual principal in Scripture, except perhaps for King David when he made believe he was insane in order to stay alive.  That certainly was a defense mechanism.  It saved him from a jam.  However, turning insanity into a defense should not become a doctrine.

Sometimes when you talk to people, you may not be talking to the person.  I think a good example is Marilyn Monroe.  What you saw was not the real woman.  Did you know that?  The smile and glamour portrayed in those photographs was not who she was on the inside.  The real woman was hurting; the real woman was devastated.  That personality killed her.

What a sad tragedy.  I am not overly impressed by what people say, how much they smile or how they appear initially.  The Bible says you shall know them by their fruit.  The fruit of their life will soon be evident.  It does not take too long to figure out whether or not they are wearing a facade.

Matthew 7:20  Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.

Several years ago, a very tormented man came to us for ministry.  He was an executive in a corporation, very successful and making good money, but he was struggling with insomnia and basically becoming "unglued".  He tried magnetics in an attempt to establish peace in his body.  However, the more he used them, the more tormented he became. 

I had a conversation with him in ministry about his life history.  He told me his father was a crass, course carnival worker who was always broke in spite of traveling and doing many road shows.  The father took his young son with him sometimes when he traveled.  Occasionally, he would take his son to very sexually immoral places.  He considered this to be funny.

As this man grew up, he determined in his heart he would become the exact opposite of his father.  It became a life exercise.  He made a mental list of the 30 or 40 things he did not like about his dad.  By the age of 35 he was the exact opposite of his dad, but he was tormented very much.

One day in ministry I said to him, "I don't doubt you're born again and God loves you but for all practical purposes, as a human being, you don't exist.  There's no peace in your life.  There's no witness of the Spirit of God working in you.  You're somewhere in there, but if being opposite of your father was what God purposed for you from the foundation of the world, you would be in peace."

"Instead, I see you as a driven perfectionist trying to preserve some sort of identity.  Any little problem that comes along is a threat to your very existence.  You have not made any allowance for failure or weakness.  You have defense mechanisms in place to accommodate the things you have difficulty facing."

This sort of problem is very common in America today and is present in most churches.  It is not easy to unravel.  It involves taking a person almost from the womb and remaking them in their entire spirit and soul.  It involves stripping everything that is not of God, including the desolation of many generations they have inherited.

Then it includes asking God to remake them according to His image and His calling for them, bringing them back to a place of functionality in the living organism called the body of Christ.  This is a tough battle.  It can take some time, but it is a wonderful application of righteousness.