Somebody’s Watching Me
Whenever someone makes it onto our worship team, I give them a worship manual and read through it with them. We’re not big on rules and regulations, but I still want to be on the same page with everyone coming onto the team. I think there should be general guidelines as to what to wear on stage, what we expect of them as far as promptness and performance, what the vision of the worship ministry is, etc.
One of the sections in this booklet is entitled “Spotlight” and talks about how the minute you step on the stage everyone knows who you are. For those serving at our Central campus, they’re potentially seen by around 1500 people over the course of four weekend services every week. These are people that check your Facebook, people that subscribe to your Twitter and Instagram feed, people that see you renting a movie or driving on the freeway. And they know who you are the minute they see you… whatever it is you’re doing.
So the question remains, what is it that you’re doing? A lot of these people even think of you as a role model. They actually look to you as an example of how to live life, scary huh? Don’t think you have something to say? Well, you do. To a lot of these people you do. Don’t underestimate your impact on their lives. This is why I tell my band to make themselves available and approachable after services. People want to talk to them, they want to ask what kind of pedal board they’re using, how they got involved in the band, what their musical background is. This isn’t to be rockstars, this is to take advantage of God-given opportunities. To neglect these opportunities to minister to people and invest in others and pour into lives and get poured into in the process would be a shame.
And who knows, maybe these people haven’t given their lives to God yet, and you’re one of the steps or the final step in bringing them to that place. You never know who’s watching. Just like my wife and I didn’t know who was watching at Miami Children’s Hospital…
A few months ago, Chrissy (my wife) and I had to take our seven month old son in for an MRI, heart echo and ultrasound on his kidneys. It was very early, a time when no one should be up, more-less taking their son in for scary procedures. We had every (fleshly) reason to be in a bad mood. We’re not morning people, it’s the hospital, it’s our baby boy, etc. By the grace of God, by the power of God, by the everything of God, we were somehow calm, peaceful, patient, gentle, everything we’re always supposed to be! Well, someone noticed.
Weeks later, a woman approached me after a service and proceeded to tell me that she works at Miami Children’s Hospital. She told me there’s a girl she works with that she’s been trying to invite to church. This was the same girl that registered us at the hospital early in the morning. She told me that this girl, just by watching us, seeing our family dynamic and seeing how we treated our son, suddenly wanted to go to church. Just watching us made her want to go to church. On her first visit she gave her life to Jesus.
Was this anything we did? Nope. This girl saw Jesus in us. For some reason, God graciously chose to shine His face upon us that morning. We barley said anything to this girl, we just… lived. Don’t ask me how it happened, it’s all God. But the point is, you never know who’s watching. You never know what kind of impact you’ll have on someone’s day or life and we, as Christians, can’t afford to have an off day, we just can’t. Whether we’re driving or shopping or at the hospital, it’s time to shine. Wether we’re being treated wrongly, or a waitress drops a glass of water on us or the guy at the bank teller drive-through cuts us off just to get one car ahead, it’s especially time to shine.
A lot of you had somebody watching you this past Thanksgiving. You had to be with family members you might not get along with, some of which don’t know Jesus. How did it go? Were there missed opportunities? What kind of circumstances will you find yourself in later today? Who will be watching you? Don’t be mistaken, someone will be watching you. The question is, what will they see? Will they see just another human being trying to make it in life, or will they see Jesus?
