choices

There’s a Demotivational poster that I don’t think is very funny. The picture is of a sinking ship. The caption reads, “It may be that the only purpose of your life is to serve as a warning to others.”

I don’t think that’s funny because for some people it’s the truth. It was for the Pharaoh of the book of Exodus. In the middle of the ten plagues that devastated Egypt, God sent this message to Pharaoh (Exodus 9:16) “But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.”

I can’t imagine more frightening words, than to be told by Almighty God that the reason he put me where I am is so that he can show the world what the weight of his anger looks like.

God is full of love and mercy, to be sure, but his holiness cannot be flouted. He will judge those who oppose him and his people. He will get angry with anyone who drags others into sin with them.

It reminds me that any act of mine that doesn’t point people toward God, well, doesn’t point them to God. Meaning at a minimum I’m allowing them to continue in the wrong direction. Maybe what I do even encourages their sins.

I can’t say what I do only hurts me. I can’t say it’s nobody else’s business. As long as I carry the name Christian, everything I do impacts what those around me think of other Christians, and of God. My snark and meanness and impatience and self-centeredness reflect badly on God. My kindness and loving service show his ability to change lives.

In the end, then, every choice matters. Especially the visible ones.