Somebody is Watching!
[Peki, Ghana] — Our ministry here continues to go well. We have been able to share the Gospel with nearly 25,000 people thus far!
Something special is happening today in this area of Ghana. The President and his motorcade will be passing through this town en route to the Regional Capital. The preparation for his journey is amazing.
Hundreds of workers are busily preparing the road for his passage. Construction machines are moving dirt and the laborers are all clad in hardhats and brightly colored vests. There are traffic cones, construction signs, and all the rest. Everything is ready for the coming of the President!
Trouble is, none of this work is authentic! Yesterday (and the entire time we have been here), all the same equipment was present, as were the workers and tools. The entire time we have been here we have seen these same workers sitting idle under the trees and the construction equipment parked in the weeds along this same road. There has been no evidence of work at all. But today … the place is alive with work! However, all of this is a show, because the President is passing by.
This all reminded me of our life as Christians! Too often we show up on Sunday for our church services and put on a show in “honor” of the King. We pretend to be something that we are not. Authentic worship does not transpire in the assembly halls of the public display, but rather in the hearts of true believers. The sanctuary is not in a building somewhere but in the hearts of the redeemed. God abides in the hearts of those whom He has called unto Himself.
Likewise our Christian ministry is not something that we are to put on public display! Like these construction workers we often only do things when we think someone is watching. The word of God is clear. Matthew 6:1 says — “Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven.”
May it be that our life and ministry is for the glory and God rather than the applause of men.