The Broken Mirror

Have you ever entered the hall of mirrors at a carnival or summer fair? This timeless amusement is especially fun for younger kids. They have a great time bumping into walls which appear to be hallways or observing themselves as lopsided and upside down in warped funny reflections. At some angles the image is infinitely multiplied, while other points of view make things look extra thin or very far away. Everything gets turned around and it becomes difficult to distinguish the correct path out of the mirrored maze. After a little while, everyone emerges, laughing, a little dizzy but ready to give it another go. 

Curiously, some people live their lives like a hall of mirrors. You never quite know if you’re observing the true person or a forced distortion of what they would prefer you believe about them. The image they present might be the real thing or some other warped depiction altogether. Their lives reflect strange and unfounded points of view complicated by fictitious narratives and storylines. Sometimes it’s possible to observe your own reflection in such individuals as they master the art of mimicking a personalized false persona. But the real person, the one few can see, often remains someone else entirely. There’s a highly specific type of sin involved with this masquerading as a hall of mirrors. It’s difficult to competently understand but if we take an honest look, we just might see a little of our own hearts staring back at us. 

A well-fabricated mirror will reflect the true depiction of an object placed in front of it. Most of us have several such mirrors in our homes and utilize them every day. If the glass becomes dirty or fogged, we typically find some means of cleaning the surface. We rely on a good mirror to help us prepare for going to work, dressing for a special occasion, and a myriad of everyday uses. The same is true of a close relationship. We see the person every day and assume that what we observe represents, at least in part, who they really are. But what if this isn’t always the case? Imagine if for some odd reason, you could no longer trust your typical bathroom mirror. It would be disconcerting to say the least. The same can be said of someone with profound deceit lurking deep in their heart. Instead of repenting to reflect the truth, they attempt to use others to repeat their lies and cover for their broken conscience. The desire to use others to parrot false life narratives is by far one of the most twisted forms of self-preservation. It’s gone way beyond simply wearing a superficial mask at church or appearing more industrious while on the job. It’s a noxious habit. Such individuals coerce those around them to defend their dearest held lies, the lies they wish were true or would like others to believe. 

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?

Jeremiah 17:9

Once someone begins the process of demanding others repeat their deceptions for the sake of covering sin, it becomes extremely difficult to fully understand what’s happening. It’s “desperately sick” and often beyond normal spiritual cures. As with the carnival maze, in order to create an effective hall of mirrors, you need more than one reflective surface. By utilizing dozens of mirrors all angled in different directions, you can create a truly confused space. The room tricks the eyes and forces us to put out our hands and feel our way around as we rightly mistrust the area ahead. We doubt our own senses as we attempt to safely navigate the room. The same is true of a deceitful person. They typically require more than one mirrored relationship, although just a few individuals will suffice to create an effective maze of deception. 

Behold, I am against those who prophesy lying dreams, declares the Lord, and who tell them and lead my people astray by their lies and their recklessness, when I did not send them or charge them. So they do not profit this people at all, declares the Lord.

Jeremiah 23:32

All of us have looked into a properly manufactured mirror and have no reason to doubt the validity our own reflection. In the same way, a talented liar begins by reflecting your true depiction and you have no reason to question their motives or intentions in the relationship. As time progresses, they begin to reveal to you a beautiful version of your potential self, the kind of person you would like to be but mistakenly believe could never achieve without their help. Soon you come to trust the image they present and enjoy seeing yourself through their lying eyes. However, over time, the image begins to distort and warp as new inventive lies come to the surface. They begin to say things like, “that’s not how it happened” or “I didn’t say that” in predictable gaslighting fashion. Soon, other mirrors join in, all reflecting familiar but slightly distorted version of the truth. The relationship becomes obscure as a “tangled web” is slowly weaved. It soon becomes impossible to keep up with the overwhelming volume of false narratives, rewriting of personal history, and downright whole cloth used to effectively cover the truth. Like the carnival attraction, our image begins to appear terribly far away, duplicated into a million backwards versions, and even completely fogged over until we’ve almost disappeared altogether. There is no profit in such relationships. Like a “lying dream” the collective fantasy begins to fade as the light of God’s truth stands against what is false.  

You have profaned me among my people for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, putting to death souls who should not die and keeping alive souls who should not live, by your lying to my people, who listen to lies.

Ezekiel 13:19

The hall of mirrors is a labyrinth of gargantuan proportions. It spans decades of amnesiac like memories of who said what and when and why. Each time you turn a corner, you can’t be certain if you are able to safely move forward in the relationship or will bump into your own nose. Sometimes the image is clear, it’s obvious there’s plenty of room to progress. Other moments, the space is so sketchy that you barely inch forward, walking on eggshells just to find your way. This is exactly what the hall of mirrors intended all along. By constructing an endless maze, the hall seeks to trap you so the truth about who they really are will never be revealed. However, in His mercy, the light of Christ shines even brighter, and you finally stand before a scene not made of mirrors but of the sublime grace of God. This is the moment the lying heart has always dreaded. You no longer reflect the long cultivated distorted image they crave. As a result, such individuals must break you into a thousand pieces to ensure no one will trust the truth. No longer useful for a handful of false security or a crumb of self-congratulation, you’re broken and discarded.

Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say, “Who is the LORD?” or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God.

Proverbs 30:8

Having been robbed of a meager sustenance and unjustly crushed by endless lies, you are finally ready to receive the nourishing food of God’s perfect truth. Few are they indeed who pray this proverb and even fewer who live to discover the sublime joy of complete reliance on Christ alone. If you are one of those trapped by a hall of mirrors, either of your own making or another’s, Christ bids you to fall on your knees and pray for nothing more than what is needed for your daily bread. You will learn to feed on doing the will of your Heavenly Father instead of starving under another’s sadistic whim (John 4:34). You will discover a dependance worth waiting for as each moment fresh manna of His word fills your heart and keeps you on the straight and narrow. The road before you will no longer be one of trepidation as the love of Jesus banishes all fear from your heart (1 John 4:18). No longer will you wander into treacherous mirages of sinful deceit but tread upon a single path, going from strength to strength (Psalm 84:5-7). Picking up the pieces of your shattered heart, Christ painstakingly begins to put you back together. You arise to discover your broken mirror finally reflects the perfect image of the true Savior who lovingly delivers you from yourself (Philippians 3:10).