People are Watching

“People are watching us as we stay at our post, alertly, unswervingly…when we’re praised, and when we’re blamed; slandered, and honored; true to our word, though distrusted.” 2 Corinthians 4, 8 (The Message)

The Christian is constantly watched; especially those in the limelight of ministry. Paul was quite cognizant of the fact that people were aware of everything he did. And, though it caused him to be sure and live up to his calling as much as possible, he was also aware of the possibility of being misinterpreted.

He goes through times when he is praised, and when he is blamed. Wouldn’t it be nice if the pats on the back always equaled the amount of work we have put in. For many that may be the case. But there are also the times that, no matter how hard we have worked, people will still see something negative.

We may have great moments when we are recognized, but also go through a season where it seems everyone misinterprets our actions and words. It is up to the believer to decide within himself that he will go ahead serving Christ, even if it means people make him out to be something worse than he is. That is why it is important for each of us to be rock-solid sure about our standing with Christ.

If we have been inattentive to our walk with Christ, being lazy about spiritual maturity, we will have little resource to stand against accusations. But, if we are keeping close to Him, allowing His grace to form us from one moment to the next, the adulation of others does not increase our ego too much, and the misrepresentations others make does not destroy us.

That is not to say they have no effect. It hurt Paul deeply that his beloved Corinthians were giving in to negative reports about him. Once having loved him with great affection, they were growing cold in their relationship to him. He says, “I can’t tell you how much I long for you to enter this wide-open, spacious life” even though they have been living in a “small way”.

People had come in saying Paul was a fraud, that he was preaching lies, and that he was leading the Corinthians astray. So Paul, speaking truth, deserving praise, true to his word, was being blamed, slandered and mistrusted. There is no ache greater than having those whom you have once loved deeply be turned against you.

More than once in our ministry, Patti and I have had this happen. Early in pastoral ministry we had a couple of families who we led to the Lord come under the influence of another “ministry”. They had our friends convinced that Patti and I were “false prophets”. (It was almost laughable to me, because being “doctrinally correct” was a high goal in my early ministry).

I wish I knew then what I know how and had been able to deal with it better. Young in both age and experience I nearly crumbled. I’ll be honest to say that it still can cause me a great deal of anguish if I believe someone thinks negatively about me. It is almost impossible to defend yourself against untrue statements. The more you protest, the more you appear to be guilty.

For Paul, and for all Christians, one key is to know for sure what the “true self” is like. We are all flawed, but that does not mean we have to cower at every insinuation made about our character. Knowing well that we are allowing Christ to work in us, we can receive the false understandings without as much pain. Instead we can, as Paul concludes this section, be people who “having nothing, (have) it all.”

We cannot control what people think about us. We can live up to what we are inside as much as possible. We can be strongly persuaded of the new person we are in Christ. And, we can receive true criticism without anxiety because we always want to move forward in Christ. But, if someone is determined to believe the worst about us, there is little else we can do.

Let the opinions of others go, and let the opinion Christ have of you affect your life. One view destroys, the other builds up. One view leads to death, the other to life. Giving in to other’s negative assessments brings grief; hanging onto who you are in Christ brings bountiful joy. Believing the negative about yourself causes you to close in and disassociate from people. Knowing you are worth something to Jesus opens your life up to fuller friendships and love.