When We Live Like No One Is Watching (Pt. 1)

Years ago, I was standing in line at a Walgreens, waiting to pick up a prescription when I learned a valuable lesson.  

As I stood there for ages, waiting to get my prescription, I kept saying to myself, "If I stand in this line and they've messed up my prescription again... so help me."  When I got to the end of the line and told them my name and particulars, the technician shook his head.  "We don't have this ready yet."  

I thought of a few things I wanted to say, and opened my mouth to say them, but suddenly I was overwhelmed by better judgment.  "That's okay, I know you're busy.  I'll just wait here until you get it filled."  The man nodded tiredly, and smiled a small smile of gratitude.  

What I didn't know at the time, but found out later, was that one of the members of my church was standing right behind me.  I was relatively new to the church, and hadn't formally met everyone.  I didn't know her, but she knew who I was.  She later told me that she was watching to see how I reacted in that moment.

We never know who might be watching us, to be sure.  I'll say more about that in the second part of this entry.  

As Christians we need to learn to live our lives in awareness of our "audience of One." If my focus wavers from Jesus, and his presence in my life, it becomes all too easy to also lose sight of the fact that my actions, my words, my deeds and essentially all aspects of my life must be illuminated in the the light of Christ.  

When this happens, it becomes even easier to become selfish and stubborn, believing that our actions, words, deeds are all lived on our terms.  We fool ourselves into thinking that we can do whatever we want, say whatever we want, and there are no repercussions.  

The Apostle Paul once wrote: 

23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. (Colossians 3:23-24)

May you live today playing to your "audience of One," Jesus himself.  May your words, deeds, actions and your very life reflect his presence to everyone around you.  And may the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always.  Amen.