feelings of losing control, or
anxiety over how others perceive you.
I don't usually subscribe to hocus pocus dream interpretations (or to chinese medicine if anyone was wondering), but wow. Check please.
I used to think I was one of those uber edgy nonconformists who couldn't give two swedish fish what anyone thought of them. But for some reason I like to play this game where I ask my friends to tell me what my biggest flaw is...which should be a red flag that maybe I do care too much what people think. Unsurprisingly, my sage of a roommate told me "you care too much what people think." My first thought was "What about nike shorts?! And my side ponytails?? Clearly I don't care that much." But even the immediacy of my defensive thoughts is a testament to the fact that I have a serious problem with the fear of man."For am I now seeking the approval of man or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ." -Galatians 1:10
Being a people pleaser precludes the possibility of being a servant of Christ. (All alliteration absolutely accidental.) It's that simple. My intimacy with God will be severely hindered if I insist on being obsessed or even concerned with the approval of other people. I was just listening to one of Tim Chaddick's sermons during which this reality hit me like a punch to the stomach. "We care so much about what people think of us...that many of us try to manage the way that we're viewed." He then goes on to mention how people will even delete facebook posts that reflect negatively upon them. Who does that? Oh wait I literally did that last night. Not a joke.
Back when it was only 90% obvious that Oprah was the antichrist (joke), my mom watched her show like it was her job. (It could have been her job for all I know. #housewifeproblems) One day, Oprah had this dude on the show who had given up speaking for an extended period of time. His rationale was that so much of our words are wasted trying to construct a certain image of ourselves and that we should let our lives do the talking. He inspired my mother to go on a week-long "vocal fast" during which she could only communicate via typing and writing. Fortunately the fast only lasted two days because if I had to hear that typewriter 'ding' one more time or tell another one of my mom's friends that she was "in the shower" I might have sued for pain and suffering.
ANYWAY, the point is: If we spent as much time promoting Jesus as we do promoting ourselves (however subtly), If we were as concerned with misrepresenting Jesus as we are with being misrepresented ourselves, If we cared as much about pleasing the father as we do about pleasing temporal and fallen people, then being a Christ-follower might look a lot differently. And more than that, it would actually be possible.
