an audience of...whom?

It has been several days since I wrote here. I didn't mean to take a spring break, it just happened! I got a little busy with other things, but mostly I haven't been ultra-motivated to do blog entries. Why? Simply, I don't know if anyone is reading or if I am talking to myself. Self-absorbed? Maybe. Honest? Definitely.

I think if we all stopped to think about it, precious little we do in the course of our days is really altruistic (done for the genuine good of others even at risk to ourselves) or is spiritually centered (done because we love God). Simply put, as highly social beings we like others to see what we're doing (at least the good things!) and to take note. Consider any kid you have spent more than 30 seconds around. What often comes out of their mouths (besides No! and Mine!)? Something like: "Watch me! Watch me! I can do it! Look at me!" Kids like us to watch them and, better yet, praise them for their accomplishments, big or small.

It's not just kids, though. Youth and adults alike want to "get credit" for doing good. Would you study as hard at school if it were pass/fail, or better yet, if there were not grades at all? Would you train as hard if every team got the trophy? How about work as hard at your job if you got the same for sitting around as you did for hustling around for 8 hours? Of course not. We all need motivation to do what we're doing, and that make sense. The question is, what motivates us?

Yesterday I previewed The Presige, the movie that will be showing at Bethlehem this Sunday night at 6 PM. There is a ton to unpack and mull over from this movie--from the interesting details to the big picture themes. One of those themes is motivation. Why the magicians do what they do and what they are willing to risk, sacrifice for the art of illusion that is their vocation and, I dare say, the core of their lives.

My question for us today is: what motivates us to do what we do? Would we be as quick to do chores around the house if our mom didn't notice? Would we be involved in all those clubs and charities if we couldn't put it on our college resumes?

The Bible says that at one point the world became so dark, so gloomy and evil that not only were people doing horrible, awful stuff (like disobeying parents--no joke!), but they cheered on others to do the same (Romans 1). I'd say our culture reflects that picture pretty well today. In the name of fame, of saying: "Watch me! Look at me! I can do it!" all sorts of twisty, harsh and weird stuff happens. Consider a group of high school girls who recently in order to become famous, to get attention, beat another girl unconscious and then posted it youtube. The phrase "fifteeen minutes of fame" which Andy Warhol coined years ago comes to mind: our culture has become so trivialized that eventually everyone will become famous for a brief time, not necessarily for doing valiant deeds but for doing stupid, inane and even evil stuff (the show Jackass comes to mind here).

The question is: what about us? What crowd are we playing to? What are we willing to risk or sacrifice, in order to do what we know is right? Fame? A good reputation? Some other form of glory? Or an internal sense of satisfaction for the good? The answer to this question, I believe, helps determine what we're going to be about. If we know what's motivating us--and it's not first and foremost the praise of others, then it's not so hard to see how wrong it is to beat people up for fun And, it's a lot easier to to do good when no one is watching to praise us for it, too. Because we know that at the end of the day someone is watching-God, the audience of one. He sees everything, every heart, motivation and deed, and He cares more than we want to know about what we're doing and why.