“1‘Be careful not to practise your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. 2 ‘So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. 3 But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4 so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:1-4)
“Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1:10)
I’ve written and preached before on the thought that everything a Christian does is “for the audience of One.” I’ve never been able to pin down the originator of the phrase. I first heard it from John Wimber four decades ago and have since come across it many times in Christian circles. Intriguingly, I’ve seen it crop up lately, without any spiritual context, on a Sports Psychology website and in a Theatre School blog. It’s an imperfect maxim to be sure yet I still find it a useful one to dwell on from time to time. After all, there are undeniably aspects of performance art in preaching and ministry which make us preachers measure ‘success’ by the applause (sometimes quite literally!) and positive feedback and ‘likes’ and heart emojis that we get from people. Our churches like it when their paid staff produce more seats on seats, and so do we. (I would have written ‘more bums on pews’ but, of course, we “professional Christians” wouldn’t want our word-choices to offend anyone.)
There are many ways to interpret the phrase but I usually remember it in those moments when I’ve been tempted either to tone down the “right” message because I’ve imagined what some hearers might think or when I’ve been tempted to fish for praise from those hearers who might think I’ve given a “good” message. If my preaching is “for the audience of One” then I’ll focus on what God will think of it.
I recall it in those moments when I find I am debating with myself whether or not to attend something on the basis of who would note that I was there or, conversely, who would note if I wasn’t there. If my programme is “for the audience of One” then I’ll figure out clearly enough where God wants me.
I recall it in those moments when there are pastoral priorities to sift through and I find myself thinking more of my comfort and needs than of others’ situations. If my pastoring is “for the audience of One” I find I am in tune with the Comforter and Healer.