This “I don’t care attitude” seems to be a prevailing attitude of many of us Christians today. We say and do what we please with no regard to its effect on others. “It’s my life” or “It’s just the way I am” and “If you don’t like it take it up with God”. We need to be careful with our lackadaisical attitude toward what others think, lest God take it up with us. God takes the way we live and the way it affects others seriously and so should we. God is holding us responsible for the positive or negative impact that our lives have on the people that we come in contact with. Everyone from the cashier at the convenience store, the server at the restaurant, your next door neighbors, employers and work colleagues, fellow sinners and saints, and your family.
This is the group of people that God has assigned us to. Acts 17:26 says, “we have preappointed times and dwellings”. It is the people that we encounter during these times and in these places that we have a responsibility to influence for the kingdom of God. Even the people we may only meet once and momentarily can be influenced positively by us. Statistically, the average person will potentially influence 10,000 people in their lifetime. We must continually check our attitudes and actions regularly to make sure we are maintaining a Christ-likeness in the way we live. After all, as Christians we should be Christ-like.
In Galatians 6:3, the Apostle Paul said that they didn’t offend in anything so that the ministry could not be blamed. The concerns are that our actions won’t make Christ look bad. Romans 14: 13 tells us “that we shouldn’t do anything that could potentially cause someone to fall into sin or keep from coming to Christ”. Do you want to be responsible for hindering someone in their walk with Christ or even contributing to a person never accepting Christ? Our words, demeanor and our actions can have that kind of power. We must remember that we are representatives of Christ and how people see Him in us helps determine if they want Him or not.
The entire chapter of Romans 14 is devoted to what we are willing to do or not do for the sake of reaching others, even if some of those things aren’t wrong to us. Operating in a true spirit of love, we cannot have an “I don’t care attitude toward others”. God cares and as His personal representatives He expects us to care. Let’s make sure that we live in a way that others will want to know the wonderful God that we serve.
