Monday, November 18, 2013

The World is Watching

---First published on stephen-blog.com when I used that site--- As most of you who know me well are probably aware of, I like chess a lot.  On chess.com people can create groups for players to join.  Some groups are focused simply on having teams of good players, others are created where chess players who have other things in common can meet. I and another player were both in a group that was specifically for Christian players and another group that was simply trying to play well as a team.  He was respected as a polite (and very good) player. Recently he was banned for cheating. (Using a computer to find his moves) I wonder what the non-Christian players in the team (the one trying to play well) thought.  It's likely at least a few had seen he was in a Christian group and then saw that he was later banned for cheating.  I cannot help but wonder if they thought something along the lines of Christians being hypocrites.  It's possible anyway. While the world's watching of us should certainly not be our primary reason for obedience to Christ, it should spur us on in the right direction. The story above, to the chess fanatic, will be quite serious, but probably not sound like too big of a deal to the average person.  But that's why I used it.  There are lots of examples of famous Christians falling into sin, but I didn't use one since it might then not seem applicable to us normal people.  Yet we must must be sure we are letting our light shine! Our actions, whether big or small, might be watched by others in the world.  Are we pointing to or away from God by those actions?  What/Whom do we reflect?

No comments: