As some of you know, my family has been struggling because my husband has been looking for a job, and nothing seems to fit. But this past week God has blessed him with a great-paying job with regular hours and off Sabbath! Of course this is heaven-sent--everything we could ask for. So, he came home from orientation yesterday and wanted to celebrate. He and our son hit the road to good-ole Walmart and returned with orders for me to "stay out of the kitchen until dinner is finished". Well, I'm not one to complain when someone else does the cooking (plus, he is a fabulous cook), so I obey.
When dinner is finished he calls me in and we have some nice pasta and vegetables, dinner rolls, and even French Silk Pie for dessert. To drink he got a bottle of champagne and was very proud to afford even a pretty cheap bottle because we were celebrating.
The dinner was great. We've been remodeling, so we haven't eaten at the dinner table in awhile, but he even cleaned the kitchen up so we could. Everything was very nice, and I even drank some of the champagne (even though it is very strong for my taste).
After dinner we were sitting around and I checked Facebook, only to see that my husband posted something on his status about celebrating his new job with champagne. Automatically my mind went to all the people he is friends with on Facebook that would pass judgement on us for drinking champagne. He didn't even tag me in the post and I was imagining all the comments I would get from people I knew about being so public about drinking champagne. I didn't even stop to notice how thrilled my husband was on his Facebook status about his new job, and spending time with his wife and boys. All I could think of was that someone, somewhere was going to see that and say something, anything, to make me feel "less christian".
Now, I won't get into the obvious--which is that I didn't consider my husband's feelings at all, and actually ended up hurting him by pressuring him to remove his own Facebook status. What is still bothering me one night later is how unhinged I got at the thought of someone seeing me for who I am.
I am a Christian. I love Jesus, and am saved by God's grace and mercy alone, and everything good in my life is from His hand. My husband's job, provided in the nick of time, was a divine intervention from God to keep our family afloat during a tough time, and he even said that in the status that I was so unhinged about. So, why all the fuss?
I think I forgot who I'm trying to be a Christian FOR. We all need a mirror sometimes to inspect ourselves--to see the plank in our own eye (Matthew 7:3). And yes, that mirror is a two-way mirror; it has to be. The world will be watching us all. If you say you are a Christian, standing for God, and have been changed by God, then expect to be watched. There are people in the world that want to see you, want to see what makes you so different, what makes you so "Christian".
But I'm not a Christian for them. I'm not a Christian for my church. I'm not even a Christian for myself. I am a Christian for God. And I can be whoever I want to be on Facebook, but God sees me for who I am.
I guess the moral of this story is, I was wrong. It definitely is not the first time and will not be the last. I was wrong for jumping all over my hubby's back for being honest on Facebook and happy about his job (along with tromping all over his feelings). I was wrong for valuing other people's opinions more than I do God's, and failing to see the big picture. The big picture is pretty clear to me. God gets the glory in our life (1 Cor 10:31). Is alcohol the very best thing to be drinking? Well, no. Probably a non-Christian could tell you that. But, in our kitchen, in our home, and in our life God gets the glory. We are everything we are because of Him. My husband even gave God the glory in his Facebook status, but no one will ever know, because I was so mortified at the mention of champagne that he removed it.
I notice that before I noticed God in his post. And I was certain everyone else would too. I noticed everyone else seeing through my two-way mirror before I realized that God made the mirror, and sees on both sides. Also, when I decided to give my heart to God I was joining a community of people who had also given their hearts to God. We can hold each other accountable, can hold each other up, but our promises are not to other people. Our covenant is with God.
No comments:
Post a Comment