It wasn’t that long ago that I was walking away from the checkout area of Woolworths supermarket that I looked at the loose change that the assistant had given me and realised I had been overpaid. I was in a hurry and said to myself that “Mr Woolworths” is not going to miss the small amount that had been overpaid to me.

But my conscience got the better of me and made me go back and sort out the discrepancy with the staff member. And as I did, the staff member thanked me and said that not many people do this and asked why I did it. The words that came to me surprised her. I said, “I came back because I always have an audience of One .” I then spoke to her how there is always someone watching me and His name is Jesus Christ. He laid down His life for me and I live my life for His approval and I would never want to disappoint Him.
I left having passed a test that comes to all of us in different ways at different times; whose approval am I living for  in this one life that has been entrusted to me?

Paul summarised this matter when he wrote to the Galatian Christians who were thrown into confusion because they were being led astray in what they believed. Paul needed to correct them and risk being unpopular with them. He did so because he wasn’t out to win the popularity of people and also because he had an audience of One.

He said, “Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people.” And he concluded, “If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.” Galatians 1:10
He was saying, “I cannot compromise because I have an audience of One and there is only one approval in life that ultimately matters.”
And perhaps I am writing to people, and you have a decision to make. Are you living your life to please people or are you living your life to be a servant of Christ?

I call these moments, “Defining Moments” DEFINING MOMENTS…..that give perspective to God’s unfolding purposes for our lives. | Rod Denton because the decisions that we make will define the unfolding of our life’s future.

I remember my first day at Puckapunyal Army recruit training camp as a National Serviceman and for the first ten weeks of my two years of service I was placed in a hut with fifteen other recruits. It was a defining moment.

On the first Sunday we were told that we were free to attend the base’s church service. I knew I had an opportunity to witness to my faith, and I knew I had an audience of One watching me. So, I spoke up and said I was going to the church service and that I was inviting all of the men present to come with me. And this word encouraged two others to say they would join me.
I also remember a story Sue told me about her great uncle Harry, who was a soldier during the first World War. Every night wherever he was, he would get down on his knees by his bed and pray, in spite of the fact that at times he had boots thrown at him while he was praying.

Paul wrote to Timothy, “Join with me in suffering like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer.”
2 Timothy 2:3-4

Living for an audience of One is not just about what we do, but it goes deeper. It has to do with our motivation, why we do something. On one occasion Jesus said, “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6:1-4

Paul spoke a similar word to the Colossians. “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.”
Colossians 3:23-24 Paul said we have a choice as to how we are going to live. Whose approval do you want, he asks, that of human beings or that of God?

It is interesting to know that Jesus Himself had this very same battle with the religious leaders of His day. And in doing this He reminds us how important it is to live for an audience of One, no matter how great a price it might require us to pay. The religious
leaders were full of themselves. He exposed their motives when He said, “How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God.” John 5:44 They had made their choice regarding whose approval they were living for. Jesus spoke boldly to them when He said, “I can do nothing by myself. I just do what I see the Father doing, for I seek not to please myself but Him who sent me.” John 5:19,30.

Jesus makes it clear that our lives are not defined by the approval of others, rather our lives are defined by God’s approval. We can’t live for the approval of others and be servants of Jesus. Like Jesus, who is our model for living, we must choose faithfulness over popularity.

The writer Os Guiness said, “Living like this, I can say to the world, I have an audience of One. Before you I have nothing to prove, nothing to gain and nothing to lose.”

Jesus spoke with conviction when He said, “I do not accept glory from human beings, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. I have come in my Father’s name and you do not accept me: but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe if you accept glory from one another but do not accept the glory that comes from the only God.” John 5:41-44

Jesus found that living for God’s approval did not come easy. He showed us that to do so would require us to be ready to pay a price when those around us are offended by our words and actions. It is in these encounters that God can be testing us in order that we might be approved to be entrusted with His great purposes for our lives.
(1 Thessalonians 2:4)

I was stirred when I read Hudson Taylor’s life story as he faced difficult tests before he went to China to give his life in missionary service for his Lord. His life was a
“remarkable story of a seemingly unimpressive man whose life and work made an impact on his world and time few figures in history – be they kings, generals or presidents – could ever match.” (Hudson Taylor’s Spiritual Secret p. 9)

During his time of preparation “he gained a deeper, more painful understanding of the sacrifice that would be required to go to China. For it had been almost two years since he had made the acquaintance of a talented and beautiful young music teacher and had fallen in love. Though the girl was a Christian, she didn’t feel at all called to the mission field. On more than one occasion when they were talking about his plans, she asked Hudson if he couldn’t serve God as well at home as in China. But Hudson was sure of God’s call. He was also deeply in love. But one day he got the final heartbreaking word. She would not go to China.
Temptation gripped him, asking, ‘Why should you go to China after all? Give it up now, while you can get to win her. Earn a proper living like everybody else, and serve the Lord at home.’”
Then we read Hudson Taylor’s response, “In one afternoon I began to reflect on the love of God; His goodness and my return; the number of blessings He has granted me; and how small my trials are compared with those some are called to endure. He thoroughly softened and humbled me. His love melted my icy, frost bound soul, and sincerely did I pray for pardon for my ungrateful conduct…….. and had a wonderful manifestation of the love of God. Now I am happy in my Saviour’s love. I can thank Him for all, even the most painful experiences in the past, and trust Him without fear for all that is to come.” Hudson Taylor’s story is a wonderful testimony to what it means to live with an AUDIENCE OF ONE, “for I seek not to please myself but Him who sent me.” John 5:30

Jesus made it clear that to live our lives to please our heavenly audience of One was more valuable. On reflection I have found that to live for an audience of One is to be valued because…

• it removes the impossible task of needing to be a pleaser of people. As Os Guiness said we can say to the world, “I have an audience of One. Before you I have nothing to prove, nothing to gain and nothing to lose.”
  Paul understood that God’s evaluation of his actions was what mattered, not his own opinion of himself. Paul had once been pleased with his own life, until he came to realise that the life he was so proud of was mere rubbish in God’s kingdom.
  Philippians 3:7-9
• it guards against the temptation to compromise our integrity or our standards because we think no one will notice
• we will be rewarded by the One who is ever present. “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people. Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward and that the Master you are serving is Christ.” Colossians 3:23-24
• it allows us to find our identity on our relationship with our heavenly Father and not in our own achievements. We cannot know who we are until we know whose we are.
• It removes the need to receive the credit for what we do and be recognised by others. For not only do we have a heavenly audience of One, but we are also surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses who are cheering us on as we run the race marked out for us.
  “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfector of faith. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, scorning the shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinners so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” Hebrews 12:1-3

Note  : All scripture quoted from the New Living Translation