They're watching!

Did you hear about the two gas company service men—a senior training supervisor and a young trainee—who were out checking meters in a neighborhood? They parked their truck at the end of the street and worked their way to the other end. At the last house, a woman looking out her kitchen window watched the two men as they checked her gas meter.

Finishing the meter check, the senior supervisor challenged his younger co-worker to a foot race down the street back to the truck to prove that an older guy could outrun a younger one. As they came running up to the truck, they realized that the lady from the last house was huffing and puffing right behind them. They stopped and asked her what was wrong. Gasping for breath, she said, “When I see two gas men running full speed away from my house, I figure I'd better run too.”

Even when we don’t realize it, people are watching us. And to make that point even more somber, many of them will do exactly what we do . . . which causes us to ask ourselves, “How are we influencing and where are we leading those who are watching us?”

Perhaps our first thoughts drift to our family relationships or our neighborhood relationships or our workplace relationships. In any case, each of us influences someone, directly or indirectly.

The apostle Paul wrote: “I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called” (Ephesians 4:1). After warning the Ephesians about giving in to flesh-centered living, Paul coached: “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children” (5:1). But Paul equally exhorted the believers in Corinth to “be imitators of me” (1 Corinthians 4:16).

Maybe you remember the comment that NBA star, Charles Barkley, uttered a few years ago: “I’m not a role model.” Certainly we could debate the wisdom of Barkley (among many others, by the way) influencing the attitudes and actions of our children, but Barkley was dead wrong to believe that he could just absolve himself of his influence!

How often do church members say, “I’m no saint!” Yes, you are. Do a casual search of the Scriptures to see how often Christians are called saints. Or how about when church members say things like, “I’m no preacher!” Where are we ever instructed that there are two sets of ethics or expectations—one for ministers and one for “normal” people? Sure, ministers should set a high standard of holy living, but that’s only to set the example for all Christians to follow. The point is that true believers in Christ can never absolve themselves from their influence. We’re all walking, breathing, living billboards. The messages we’re all advertising are steering people toward Christ or away from Him . . . thoughts to ponder.