Impressions

It’s interesting the conversations we get into down here at times. There are some that are preoccupied / concerned with what is put on Facebook or blogs about living their life here. They worry about the impression that others see when they post pictures of Caribbean beaches or getting manicures.

Generally, the conversation is with folks that would be considered Godly people. That is, they would profess to be a follower of Jesus Chris and their general resource use (time & money) would seem to be devoted to tasks that would glorify Him (pastors, leading small groups, preparing locations for conferences, etc). Or another way to think of it is that their day to day ‘work’ is typically related to the church AND their free time activities many times include similar activities. You could say they were bearing good fruit.

Yet they worry about people’s perception.

Many times they have uprooted themselves from their extended family, put themselves in a country less safe than their home country, and chosen or felt called to a place having less opportunity then they could have in their home country. Many would be called missionaries.

Yet they fear that if they show something pretty, fun, or that that is beyond the realm of absolute need (food, water, health) to the public, they will be attacked.

Why the fear?

I heard a story during one of these conversations. A family took a vacation on a beautiful Caribbean coast, posted pictures, and lost one of their long term supporters because of the pictures. “Do you still believe you are missionaries, living like that?”. The supporter was not aware that the place they were staying was given to them for several days. For nothing. For thanks in response to things that the family had previously done in the community.

Another story dealt with a group of girls getting their nails done. Similar reaction. Yet that person did not understand that the $3 paid for a manicure gave a young lady the opportunity for a decent living. She was not starving and she was not feeling obligated to sell her body.

However, there are times when things are exactly as they seem - when you do go to dinner, a movie or to the beach. There are times where life is beyond the realm of absolute need. Just to get away. Just to relax. How can that be justified?

Many things we do in life could be construed as Godly or not depending on the motivations. Are we at dinner building a relationship, a community that will someday help fund the new building for the church OR are we simply being wasteful in our finances? You simply won’t know unless you know the person’s heart. And until you do, is it pointing out sinful behavior, gossip, or just misunderstanding the circumstances and being judgmental?

Perhaps the saddest and strongest point of being a follower of Jesus is that you cannot be as good a role model as the one you are trying to emulate. You will never be as good as Jesus, not one, no one. And so, you are instantly a hypocrite – that is, the faults you DO have will be seen as hypocritical to those who think you should have all the characteristics of Christ.

And that brings us to Grace. Because for all the good we want to do to glorify Him – we will always have faults and those are only erased thru His loving grace to us. We can’t earn it. It’s a gift.

So I come out of these conversations in several ways. Sad that people feel obligated to filter their lives, not show a complete picture of the blessed life they have been given because of fear that others will see it as wrong or not sacrificing enough. Happy for those friends of ours that see our pictures, good and bad, and may not fully understand the circumstances life has thrown at us, but have the Grace to be happy in our good times AND to stand by & pray with us in our times of refining.

Maybe next time I’ll take this discussion personally and talk about what I hear from others and to my own opinion about how that makes me feel and respond. Or maybe not.

~Tim