Living for Jesus

I am occasionally surprised about what people notice about me. I notice things about other people, things I admire and wish to copy and things I don't admire and try to learn from their lessons and not do things. However I rarely see myself as important enough or interesting enough for others to do the same when observing me. Certainly it is always a shock to find that somebody has talked about me or thought long about something I did and said, especially those things I feel are insignificant like what temperature water I like.

However imagining that nobody notices what I do and say is not actually helpful or even really humble. If we don't understand that others are watching, we will not strive to act Gods plan for the world, or to mirror Gods love. When we assume nobody notices what we say or do then we give ourselves license to say stupid, hurtful things, or to act selfishly, or to be entirely thoughtless about our conduct.

On my first visit to a Busselton church, I wore jeans and a polo shirt. I had put thought into this choice, it was modest and shoes were included in the get up (because I was planning on walking). As I said goodbye to my employer, she said "You not going dressed like that are you?" I said that God did not care what I wore and who else is there to impress but people. She replied that there was no way she would walk out of the house dressed like that. I did anyway and on my way to church I wondered if I had done the right thing. Should I have dressed as she expected in order to open conversation or should I have continued used my clothing as a point about what church is for and why I go.

This simple thing of what to wear, that I had almost entirely thoughtlessly decided on, had the potential to cause her to have less respect for Christians, or to challenge her view of God and life and the important things. We ought not to become paranoid and never do anything, but We should always have a reason for what we do and that reason should be to glorify God.