As I begin today, I wonder what people will think. Most of us, on a daily basis, worry, fret, or get anxious about what people think of us, how we are perceived. Perhaps this is why I am taken with 2 Corinthians as of late.
In chapter 5, Paul talks about how people perceive the Christians. "If we are beside ourselves, it is for God. If we are in our right mind it is for you." There is word play here, in which the perception of man is the norm, but our relationship towards God is something which the world does not understand, calling us beside ourselves. I believe this is our call--reconciliation in the face of violence, forgiveness in the face of slander, love in the face of malice. The world in which we live wants us to retaliate, yet it is God who judges. On that big day, it will be God's judgment, not ours, which will win out. I believe God's judgment is a deep, penetrating grace which shakes us to the core.
So today, as I start my first day in the offices of Peachtree Road UMC, I am excited, nervous, scared, but grateful for the opportunity to serve the LORD. I know that my perception of myself is one in which I am out of my mind for God, living a lifestyle counter to the world. Yet, for those around me, I will be in my right mind. This chameleon-like living, I pray is not about self-deception, but how God perceives, receives, and loves us all.
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