What Do They Hear?

I turned 40 this year and decided I needed a mid-life crisis. I can’t afford a sports car and I would kill myself on a motorcycle, so I decided that learning to play the guitar would be my mid-life crisis experience. I purchased a decent guitar and got some pointers from several friends. And, six months later, I’m not terrible.

I’ve set myself a modest goal of being able to lead my family in some Christmas carols this holiday season. So, for the past couple of weeks when I have had time, I’ve practiced Christmas songs on my guitar.

Several nights ago, I had the official unveiling and played a song for Angela and a couple of our kids. I introduced my song this way, “OK, remember, this is a Christmas carol. I’m going to play a verse and the chorus, and you tell me what it is.”

No one knew what I was playing. No one had any idea. They couldn’t even guess my song.

I wanted to blame them for their lack of musical knowledge–OK, I did blame them for their lack of musical knowledge–but I had to be honest and admit that apparently the fault was mine.

I knew what I was trying to play, but my tempo was off, my chord changes were not smooth, and my strum pattern obviously was wrong. I was playing (or at least attempting to play) O Come All Ye Faithful, but that is not what they were hearing. And, when all is said and done, what they hear matters most. I thought I was playing O Come All Ye Faithful, but I was not being honest with myself–I was attempting one song, but playing something completely different.

What is the song of your life people around you hear? Do they hear something that sounds like Jesus? Are they able to pick out from among the chords and notes of your daily life a song that reminds them of the Savior?

In our effort to live as a witness for Christ, what people hear often matters most. Do they hear you (or see you) behaving like Christ, loving like Christ, forgiving like Christ? Do you show the fruit of the Spirit or the fruit of the flesh? It is tempting for us, when our homeland feels more like Babylon than Jerusalem, to live in anger and frustration. It is tempting when culture continues to grow more crude by the day to be constantly annoyed. But, that is the work of the flesh.

You are called to be a witness for Christ, not a vigilante against all the things in the world that make you angry.

Among the works of the flesh, Paul lists enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, and envy. The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.

The Bible never gives you permission to ignore the Spirit and gratify the flesh when the culture doesn’t suit you. Nowhere does the Bible say, “Do not gratify the desires of the flesh unless it is politics.” Instead, Paul teaches that those who gratify the desires of the flesh “will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Beware if your inclinations are always toward your flesh. You may have convinced yourself that your cause is good, but the Christian can never utilize evil means for good ends. The means matter. And, if you gratify your flesh, you are wrong and in spiritual danger.

The world is watching and listening. Do they hear a song that sounds like Jesus? You may think you are playing Jesus’s song, but if others can’t see Jesus or hear Jesus, it may be that you’re only lying to yourself.