Human opinion disables us

 The fear of human opinion disables; trusting in God protects you from that. (Proverbs 29:25)

How many of us are subject to human opinion? If you don't think you are, ask yourself if you go to the 4 or 5 star items on that online store, reading the reviews of the products you are considering. If you do, you are subject to human opinion - reviews are actually a form of offering one's opinion of a product, service, or place. We all rely upon human opinion just a little bit - even if it is to swerve right as we are going down the road as we have seen the three drivers in front of us do already. We don't know why we are swerving, but based upon what we have seen, we respond similarly. That is the bad thing about human opinion - we respond similarly based upon what another thinks or feels. If you have ever read mixed reviews of a product, you know how conflicted you can be in reading them. You know some absolutely love the product, while it totally disappointed others or simply didn't meet their expectations.

Opinion is based upon two very dangerous things - expectations and performance. How many of us know performance doesn't always match up to expectations? Performance doesn't always match up to promises, either! The grounds upon which we base an opinion may not be sufficient to form a 'solidly reliable opinion'. One thing I have come to count on is how well a product performs. If I see the laundry detergent reduce my need to apply stain removers, add bleach, or even 'rewash' items, I am more likely to repurchase that detergent. Why? I have formed an opinion based upon reliable performance. If the manufacturer chooses to change the formula then the performance may change. Even the performance that I once counted on observing isn't consistent all of the time, is it? No wonder God tells us human opinion can 'disable' us if we count on it way to much!

If we count on another's opinion of us, we certainly will be subject to being weakened and sometimes even unable to perform as we usually would have performed. Why? We are crippled by their expectations - either because we know we cannot match up to them, or because they keep changing! Performance will waver - we are humans subject to 'varying' performance based upon skill, energy, reasoning capacity, and even desire. There is only one individual whose opinion really matters - Jesus. His expectations never change. They are consistent and revealed to us plainly in scripture. We don't have to 'guess' about what he will desire to see - the performance he will expect. We can be free of human opinion when we come to the place of recognizing only one expectation matters - love the Lord your God with all your heart. From that stem all other 'performance', such as loving your neighbor, taking care of the needs of others, and extending grace even before it is sought. Just sayin!

Consider the audience

Going through the motions doesn’t please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice. (Psalm 51:17 MSG)

I will be the first to admit there are days when I am merely going through the motions. Something deep inside of me just isn't all that excited about doing whatever it is I am doing. I don't quite see the thing ahead of me with any real sense of passion. While these days are not frequent, they can really bog me down when I allow them to influence me for very long. Going through the motions is nothing more than putting on a performance. You feel one way, but are doing something entirely contrary to the way you truthfully feel. Why do we do this? I think it may be it is easier to just go along for the ride than it is to step up, take ownership for how we feel, and allow ourselves to really face the day without masks. A flawless performance - many of us know very well how to give these. Few of us will actually ever step beyond the performance, but when we do, we find a liberty and a peace that transcends whatever bit of pride we are hiding behind!

To 'perform' one needs an audience. Real or perceived, the 'audiences' in our lives frequently dictate the 'performance' we render. There are times we consider only the audience we can see, discounting those who look on that we don't really think are observing our 'performance'. As a parent, I quickly found out more was 'observed' than I thought. The things modeled in the behavior of one of my children oftentimes revealed to me they had been observing my 'performance' much closer than I ever dreamed! Their choice of actions or words were a direct comparison to my own. Now, if this is me sitting quietly reading with a leg crossed over the other and the child imitates that exact pose and takes up his/her own reading book, I might find it delightful. If that child imitates my 'less than stellar moment' when I lost control of my emotions and let my anger fly, I am not as 'flattered' by that 'performance'.

One thing I learned in theater - you must consider the audience before you. You must know how much to project your words so you will be heard. You have to 'read' their connection with you so you can vary your actions and your topic ever so slightly to keep them engaged. The need to 'perform' varies depending on the audience. I am so grateful for those in my life that don't need to see a performance from me. The ones I can get totally 'real' with are perhaps most inclined to actually extend grace in my life where I need it most, but they are also not willing to let me 'perform' to the audience. They want reality through and through. While this may be challenging, they keep me grounded and honest. There is nothing wrong with that! In fact, the more honest I am with them, the more honest I discover I am being with others. While I may be tempted to 'perform', they hold me accountable to just being th real me. Not a bad thing considering it is the real me that Jesus wants to come through anyway. Just sayin!