Any public speaker worth his or her salt knows that understanding the audience is key to success behind the podium. If I'm addressing a kindergarten class, I'll get down on the floor and sit cross-legged as I encourage them to gather close. I'll be physically animated. My voice will be charged with energy. I'll put on something of a show, just for them. There may even be puppets. A live bunny. I'm pretty creative. I'd find a draw of some kind. You can bet your bottom dollar there would be audience participation.
Now suppose I were tasked with addressing a group of older ladies at a genealogy conference. The room is filled with the somber faces of those who have dedicated nearly all of their free time to tracing their family history. Some are wearing the family crest, embroidered with care upon their blouses or computer bags. Others have dressed in the garb of their native lands, albeit several generations removed. While I might start my presentation with a joke or two (this is me, after all, in this hypothetical scene), I'd pretty quickly get down to business with solid information designed to help them pursue their passion with greater precision. There wouldn't be any floor time, unless someone fell fast asleep.
Suffice it to say, I understand the principle of playing to the crowd. I might have been a decent marketer, had I chosen to pursue a career other than that of failed housewife (I don't like to clean and my cooking is sub-par). I would argue, however, that social media has made excellent marketers of us all.
What if, just for one day, only God saw what we did? How would we dress? What would we do? It's an interesting concept, one that cannot be carried out in its purest form because most days involve interactions with others. Those are, however, the days that would count the most in such an experiment. Let's say that, although we would be interacting with others as usual, God was the only person really taking note of what we said and did. For just that day, we would have an audience of one. That day, if any act of kindness was done, it would have to be done in secret, with not even the recipient knowing we did it, if possible. If any moral decision was made, the masses would not know. Just God.
The truth of the matter is that in order to follow God with the abandon it takes to be complete in Him, we do have to live exactly like that. Just exactly like that. "What Would Jesus Do," the adage in question form that took hold years ago and spawned millions of rubber bracelets is, in all actuality, the crux of the crucified Christian life. If today you have done lots of things for the applause of men, I'm sorry. I wish I could give you a hug, because you must be utterly exhausted. I know I am, because I spent the day at home but under the depressing mantle of failure in the eyes of others, both in my spiritual life and in every other aspect, to my way of thinking.
We have bibles. Let's open them and do what God tells us to. Regardless of what others think. In spite of what others think. Most importantly, with NO motive to make them think. I'm preaching to myself here. Glad you came along.
