Audience of One

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. 

Galatians 1:10

“Congratulations, your friends have liked your posts 450 times!” As soon as I logged into Facebook, I was greeted with a friendly reminder of how much my “cyber” friends had enjoyed the content I shared. It was cool to see and interestingly enough, it confirmed what I already knew- my audience was watching. But it also made me ask myself a few questions. Why does stuff like this matter so much? Was my heart beginning to lose focus on what was really important? Had I become more concerned about what the people wanted rather than what God wanted for me?

The average person spends about 1 ½ hours a day on social media sites. Facebook alone has over 2.2 billion users, Instagram following with 800 million-each user having about 200 or more followers.^[1] These statistics reveal to me not only how more and more people are spending their time, but also a peek into how much the culture can influence us. The more people watching, the more chances we have to tailor our actions —and I’m not just referring to our social presence, but also how we live our lives in general.

How many of you can relate to a time when you dressed a certain way, hung with a certain circle, or did things you really didn’t want to do – all in the name of wanting to be validated by people? We choose to remain silent amongst the crowd on areas of truth because we don’t want to be looked at in an unfavorable way. We shrink back on boldly proclaiming our faith because- well it might seem too fanatical. Yet we spend time on things like constructing our perfectly curated content just so we can gain more “likes” and “follows” from the world.

I know all too well how easy it can be to entertain the temptation of performing according to world’s standards or fall into the trap of trying to always meet the expectations of others, instead of living for an audience of One.

Fear of being an outcast.
Attention seeking.
Immodesty or Pride.
Lack of obedience.

These factors are just a few examples of what can contribute to our “approval of man” syndrome and also a recipe to F.A.I.L.  As servants of Christ, our goal as we draw closer to Him, is to have an increasing desire to follow His example, and to do the things that are pleasing to our Father (John 8:29).  At times this may require a hard decision to do what is right, being willing to take a stand for the sake of the Gospel, even if it means we have to stand alone. Nevertheless, our hearts must remember that “we must obey God rather than men” (Act 5:29).

How disappointing would it be to not walk in God’s will for our lives, simply because we’re more concerned about the approval of people, more than we want the approval of the One.

I write this not to shame others, but out of my own convictions, as I have been guilty myself of the very things I have mentioned. However, I am learning to walk each day in such way that when I see my Lord face to face I can say I did my best to live solely to please Him.

Only each of us know the real reasons behind our individual actions. I challenge you this week to examine your heart and ask yourself: Does how you live represent that you are trying please people or that you’re a servant of Christ? I pray that you will join me on this journey of living for an audience of One, allowing His light and love to shine through you so that others “may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven!” (Matthew 5:16).

Until Next time and With Love!
Keisha

^[1] Source 1

Source 2