Nobody Looking? Don’t Be So Sure!

Pastor Randy Corbin, Transitional Lead Pastor

It happened several years ago.  On one of our family camping vacations, I decided to avoid the shaving routine.  By the end of the week, I looked like a candidate for ruffian of the year.  My crumpled tee shirt and frayed shorts didn’t help the picture either.

Linda was a bit unnerved by my appearance and particularly so when I announced that we would do breakfast at a nearby restaurant for a break from the camp stove.  “Linda,” I argued, “I am safe.  We are a couple hundred miles from home.  We know no one here.  I am absolutely safe.  I enjoy the freedom from the meticulous grooming process.  Let me enjoy vacation.”  She hesitantly demurred.

We had just finished a most delicious breakfast and were making our way out of the place when at the door a woman stepped in front of me and tilting her head, asked, “Pastor Corbin, is that you?” (Gulp!! Hard swallow! Reddening face and trying to cover it!) “W-Why yes” I reluctantly responded as I stared into the face of what seemed to be a complete stranger.  “I wasn’t so sure, Pastor Corbin,” as her eyes examined me, “My husband and I visited your service for the first time last Sunday.  So what a surprise it is to see you this morning.”  I could tell by her face that she was thinking a whole lot more than that.  If she ever returned to one of our church services, I wasn’t aware of it.  Perhaps she could never conceive of having anyone who was so unkempt be her pastor.

Someone has said that integrity is what we are when no one is looking.

I would encourage you to consider that such a time never exists.  I want to suggest that someone is always looking whether we know it or not.  No matter where we are and no matter how we are behaving, you and I have at least three audiences.

1.  God is watching.  One of the basic truths of theology is that God is omniscient.  He knows all and sees all.  That is one of the first lessons we teach our children after God is love.  So, you and I both know that wherever we ascend or descend, God is there and takes in our thoughts, our actions, and our reactions.  There is never a time when he slumbers, dozes, or is distracted by something else.

So, whether it is a lie, a lustful action, or a cheating move, even if done in a darkened, locked closet, God sees it all. 

2.  Heavenly beings are watching our every move.  Scripture describes the activity of ministering angels to humankind.  The psalmist states that the angels are given charge over us.  One cannot read the scriptures without realizing that there are angels who have responsibility to serve those to whom God has appointed them.  They are around us when we don’t even have an inkling of it.

Then, Hebrews 12:1 unveils that fact that we are surrounded by a cloud of witnesses.  Those witnesses are the saints described in Hebrews 11. And, could it not be that there are other saints as well?  For the author of Hebrews, such a truth was a motivational force in his life to stay pure and faithful in his service.  He knew he was being watched.  And, if he was, why not us?

So, whether we waste time in our ministry, procrastinate in our preparations, or commit some dastardly sin all in the context of “who is ever to find out,” we have not been as private as we think.  Some angel(s) or some saint(s) saw it all as though we were performing it all on a brightly lit stage.

3.  Our conscious self-watches.  We do not go unwatched as well because our conscious inner eye is always taking in our thoughts and actions.  Misdeeds, improprieties, and indiscretions are ever caught on our internal closed circuit cameras.

And, as a pastor, like you, I have seen what happens to lives when those cameras begin playing back in the mind what it caught on the screen.  Women and men who thought no one was looking can no longer live with such wrong.  The film footage haunts them and hounds them to emotional grief and eventual confession.

Indeed those people know that one is only a fool to believe that he can go unwatched.

So when the evil one tempts us to a thought or an action by suggesting that no one is watching?  He is a liar.  There is always an audience:  God, heavenly beings, our conscious selves, and, we might be surprised by who else.

Let us therefore live as people of the day and walk faithfully in the presence of our King!