Ziggy is a cartoon character that was created by Tom Wilson the year I was born. Ziggy has a rather unimpressive appearance. He is small, bald, and barefoot. He has been described as always being one step behind, one nickel short, one lane away from the fast lane. This guy is anything but lucky. He never seems to catch a break!
That's probably why Ziggy has so many fans. For in Ziggy they see a reflection of themselves, and the many misfortunes that come his way remind them of their own life experiences. Who, really, would want to be Ziggy? Yet in some ways, we all can relate to Ziggy.
When I was a kid, my parents got me a T-shirt with Ziggy on the front exclaiming, "I've Gotta Be Me!" Looking at that statement from a Christian standpoint, it can be viewed as either positive or negative, as true or not true.
Looking at it negatively, we can say that it is not true as it concerns sinful traits and patterns in our lives. A Christian brother who has an anger problem may say, “I can be a bit of a hot-head, but then I cool down after a while. That’s just the way I am.” Or maybe a Christian sister is known for being obnoxious. She may pride herself in her ability to “speak her mind,” describing herself as one who “tells it like it is. That’s just the way I’m wired.” In both cases these people are in sin and without excuse. God expects them to change. This is not a matter of “teaching old dogs new tricks.” The fact is, we are not dogs; we are people. And if we are in Christ, we are a “new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Cor. 5:17). Scripture says “to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life … and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:23-24).
When it comes to sinful traits and patterns, I don’t gotta be me. In fact, I gotta kill me [self] and become like Christ. Thankfully, God has made this possible by his Spirit, giving us the power to change. This is really the only way to live (Rom. 8:13).
With this in mind we can also take to heart the quote “I Gotta Be Me!” in a positive sense, stressing the blessed uniqueness of our individuality. This has to do with aspects of our person that distinguish us from others. Such features would include our personality, skill set, spiritual gifts, etc.
The apostle Paul testified in 1 Cor. 15:10, "By the grace of God I am what I am." The first part of the verse--the realization that we are who we are is the work of God's grace--keeps us from pride. The second part of the verse--"I am what I am"--should keep us from wishing we were someone else. Instead, we should become all that God has created us to be. That's why Paul goes on to say in the second half of the verse, "... and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them--yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me."
I think of how much time I have squandered wishing that I was different or more capable than I am, rather than going all out in God's strength to reach my full potential in Christ. Or, my attempts to sort through my own inner attitudes can go from honest self-examination to a morbid introspection. This can really screw you up mentally, emotionally, and otherwise, leading to what John Piper called
a carnival of mirrors in your soul: you look in one and you're short and fat; you look in another and you're tall and skinny; you look in another and you're upside down. Then the horrible feeling begins to break over you that you don't know who you are any more. The center is not holding. And if the center doesn't hold--if there is no fixed and solid "I" able to relate to the fixed and solid "Thou," namely, God, then who will preach next Sunday?
Piper goes on to quote 1 Corinthians 15:10 which I did above, then comments, "If, by grace, the identity of the 'I' -- the 'I' created by Christ and united to Christ, but still a human 'I' -- if that center does not hold, there will be no more authentic preaching, for there will be no more authentic preacher, but only a collection of echoes."
Praise God, we don't have to be a "carnival of mirrors" or a "collection of echoes." Rather, we can be confident about who we are in Christ.
This reminds me of one other cartoon I watched as a kid. I had to hunt this one down because my recollection was so foggy. But having rediscovered it, I believe it serves as a wonderful illustration of what I'm trying to say.
The cartoon was called "King Leonardo and His Short Subjects." It aired on ABC from 1960-63 (so what I saw were obviously re-runs that aired in the early 70s). One of the main characters was Mr. Wizard the Lizard who lived in the woods at the base of a tree. He was often visited by Tooter the Turtle (pictured below with the Wizard), who wanted to satisfy his curiosity about a number of subjects. So with a wave of his arms, Mr. Wizard would send Totter Turtle through time or space to experience what it was like to be a gunfighter, knight, police officer, sailor, or whatever else he wished to be. At the end of each adventure, Tooter would realize that there's no place like home and being simply a turtle.
The climax of each story would occur when Tooter would get himself into an awful, inescapable predicament and cry out, "Help, Mr. Wizard!" Upon hearing the cry, Mr. Wizard would utter his magical chant, "Drizzle, Drazzle, Druzzle, Drome, time for this one to come home!" In a matter of seconds, Tooter would make it back, safe and sound. At that point Mr. Wizard would give him the wise counsel that would conclude every episode: "Be what you is, not what you is not. Folks that what is, is the happiest lot."
Viewed in the light of Paul's testimony in 1 Cor. 15:10, Mr. Wizard's words are still good counsel -- a lesson I'm still learning today.