Why What Other People Think Doesn't Ultimately Matter

Scripture verses that caught my attention today: Hebrews 11:24-26 By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called a son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 25 choosing rather to share ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He considered abuse suffered for the Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking ahead to the reward.

Observation: I think the author of Hebrews, though inspirational, has a little bit of selective memory. Granted, Moses did identify with his people, and did leave Pharoah’s house to do so. But it wasn’t totally voluntary. When he saw an Egyptian mistreating an Israelite, he killed the Egyptian. When word got out, he had to run for his life away from Pharoah’s house. And to the best of our knowledge, Moses didn’t even know about Christ. He just knew about God. And although he knew God, at first he came up with every excuse in the book not to do what God asked him to do, namely, lead Israelites out of Egypt and into the promised land. Nevertheless, Moses is still an incredible witness to the faith and so I can certainly understand why the author of Hebrews includes him in the distinguished list.

Application: When we read history, what we’re really reading is often one person’s perception of history that is often based on other people’s perceptions of history. For example even when I was writing the observation paragraph above, at first I caught myself writing that Moses didn’t know about “Jesus” when the passage from Hebrews upon which this reflection is based actually spoke only of “Christ”—a subtle but perhaps important distinction since Jesus is a name that has meaning but Christ is a title that has meaning.

At any rate, as even Hebrews makes clear, we have little control over what is said about us, whether during our life or even years after. The people who perceive us positively will tend to over-do it. And those who perceive us negatively will tend to do the same.

But in the end it doesn’t really matter. In spite of his many shortcomings, God used Moses in a powerful way, even though many of the very people he led turned on him time and time again. For good or for ill, what people perceive is usually not completely true. But God’s ability to use us regardless of how we are perceived has proven true time and time again.

Prayer: Lord, years ago someone told me that I care too much about what people think. That’s probably true. But it’s also true that you can and do still use me in spite of that limitation. For that I can only give you thanks and praise. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

(Scripture Readings today included Isaiah 19-21 and Hebrews 11)