An audience of one?

“I only play to an audience of one.” I recently read this Christian version of “I don’t listen to my critics” in an interview with a pretty flamboyant celebrity. And the intent behind the statement is fine as far as it goes. Yes, we should not make the approval of men the most important thing and yes, God is the one with whom we now and later have to do. But the people who say this are not usually living the life of Paul or being asked to compromise the gospel.

Most often it’s someone who actually does conform but not to his father’s view of normalcy. Maybe it’s tattoos or piercings or hipster clothes or some other trend that our “nonconformist” adopts but he is almost always conforming to some tribe. His rejection of the approval of man is not so much an affirmation of the gospel as it is a dig at those who “don’t get it.”

I understand. As a young man I did everything I could to make sure people around me knew that I wasn’t going to be told how to dress or wear my hair (hair was a big deal in the 1970s) or what music I would listen to—at least I wasn’t going to let my parents’ generation do that. It’s not like I was shaving my head or listening to Klezmer music. I was wearing bell-bottom jeans, shoulder-length hair and listening to rock. I was choosing my tribe and I was excluding in all apparent ways those I counted as outsiders. A friend, older and squarer than I, talked me through that and helped me understand that I was in essence telling God where and who I would serve, and more loudly who I wouldn’t serve. Paul’s message in I Corinthians 9 was convicting.

I think there is also merit in hearing, discerningly, the voices of the status quo. “Normal” is normal for a reason most often. Community standards have some value, as does the counsel of more mature people. If someone tells me I’m behaving outlandishly I should consider the source but also consider my motives and the effects of my behavior on those about whom I am called to care.

I guess the counsel of those I respect more now than I did at 20 has led me to a point of using the “me and God against the world” card infrequently. It is part of the Christian life that we don’t get to choose our brothers and sisters. In a sense we don’t get to choose those to whom we will minister, although some seem to be committed to doing just that thing. The whole “servant to all” thing gets lost in that shuffle I think. When I’m being self-indulgent I’m pretty soon out of the mainstream of orthodox Christianity, and of orthodox Christians. The fact that I can find people to praise me for it does not change the likelihood that I’m walking on the shoulder of the straight path that leads to life.

There will be times in all our lives when we have to obey God and disregard the opinions of men. Usually when that happens, the choice will not bring wealth or acclaim to your doorstep. And it likely will not be a choice we need to throw in the face of our biblically Christian brothers every week, or even every year.