Monday, July 11, 2011

It Really Does Matter What The World Thinks Of You!

Does it matter what the world thinks of you?


The above question is often answered by Christians with an emphatic “NO, it does not matter what the world thinks of me! Jesus loves me and that’s all that matters!” While I don’t necessarily disagree with the ideology behind the statement, I do think it is naïve and misguided. I say this because I believe strongly that it indeed matters what the world thinks of us, as believers.


This is never more evident than in the case of Daniel. We all know the story of the lion’s den, but notice, for a moment, the predicament Daniel’s accusers were in. They were upset because a Jew was one of the three administrators that ruled over them. They wanted to remove him from not only his position of authority, but from the earth altogether. They had a big problem though; Daniel’s life was flawless. Daniel 6:4-5 says, “At this, the administrators and satraps tried to find grounds to charge against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. Finally these men said, ‘We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.’” Daniel lived his life in such a righteous way, they couldn’t even make up a charge against him as he was so far above suspicion. Instead, they had to zero in on his relationship with God and try to make that illegal.


How do you live your life? If someone really wanted to snare you with an accusation, would they find it difficult? Would people find it hard to believe that you had done whatever you were accused of? Or is your character or lifestyle one in which people wouldn’t be surprised at all. I’ve had times in my life in which people would not have been surprised to find that I had done something I shouldn’t have. The worst part of my guilt was feeling like I had given a bad representation of Christ to those non-believing friends who knew I claimed to be a Christian, but lived the same they did. As a “little Christ” (what the term “Christian” means), I reflected poorly on my Savior.


Too many Christians live hypocritical lives, and then boldly declare they don’t care what people think of them and all that matters in Christ. If all that matters is Christ, then why don’t we try to live to please Him first and foremost? If we care so much that Jesus loves me, why don’t we live in appreciation of that wonderful fact? Darius, in trying to encourage Daniel before he gets dropped into “the den,” cries out to him that he hopes Daniel’s God, “who [he] continually serves” will rescue him (6:16). Daniel was known for constant servitude to God. I want to be known for that! Wouldn’t that be cool! 1 Peter 3:16 warns believers to live life with a “clear conscious” so that people can only persecute us due to our faith, instead of our hypocrisy or moral failures.


This is not an attempt to propagate legalism. Instead, we should strive to love Christ with all of our hearts, living to please Him. In doing so, we’ll shine a light toward Him and away from ourselves. Our testimony can damage Christ in the eyes of the world if we refuse to take seriously the idea that people are watching us, all of the time, to see if Christ is really a life changer. Thank goodness for Grace, or we’d all be lost, but we need to take our lifestyle and morality seriously for the sake of growing God’s kingdom.


- Adam