What’s better than one Captain Kirk? Two Captain Kirks, obviously. That dream became a reality in the original series episode “The Enemy Within” as well as Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
In The Undiscovered Country two Kirks led to the classic trope “Spot the Imposter.” The shapeshifter Martia takes Kirk’s form and the two fight each other in the snow. When Martia’s accomplices appear, both Kirks tell them to shoot the other. This trope always leads to some amount of confusion as both look-alikes claim to be the real version.
I’ve never created another version of myself via a transporter accident, but I do often wonder about the real me.
Is the real me the person who is faithful to Christ, spends time with him and seeks to become more like him every day? Or is the real me the rebel, the transgressor, the one who wants to live for his own glory and fame?
I feel like the character in the show or movie who has to spot the imposter. I stare at my life and try to figure out who I really am. On good days I am the faithful servant and on the bad days I am the rebellious transgressor. Unfortunately the real me seems somewhere between the two.
Yesterday I read something in my devotional that was the impetus for this post and also helped answer the question “Who is the real me?”
“The more God gives me his grace, the more I am myself” – H. A. Williams
The real me has less to do with me and more to do with God. We become the truest versions of ourselves when we give ourselves completely to God. I still sin and I still give into temptation, but those aren’t the realest parts about me. Those areas of my life are hopefully getting lost in the reality of God’s transforming work in my life. Sin made it seem like the imposter was real, but Jesus is pushing the imposter back.
Sometimes I feel like Jesus is pushing the imposter back a little too slowly. I wish he would wave his wand, yell “stupefy” and knock the imposter out. If Jesus did that then, like Slim Shady said, the real Scott Higa would be able to stand up. Jesus isn’t about waving his wand and giving us immediate gratification. He’s much more interested in holding our hands and walking us through a process. It may take a little longer but, by the end, we’ll the truest versions of ourselves and there won’t be any sign left of those imposters.
When do you feel like an imposter?
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