Pastor's Ponderings, July 23, 2018

Smile, We Are All On Candid Camera!

In June 28, 1947, Allen Funt created the show, “Candid Camera” where unaware persons were being recorded for a later television broadcast.  It was a very popular and hilarious show with a great deal of humor from the forties to the seventies. Naturally, the victims agreed to the broadcast before they were shown on television. 

In marked contrast, Nina Golgowski, in the July 22, 2018 business section of the Huffington Post, wrote that an Uber driver secretively filmed over 700 passengers for months without their consent and broadcasted them on a video streaming platform called Twitch.  This is very disturbing news. It would be very disconcerting to know that your every word or action was being observed and evaluated and broadcast to the world without your knowledge or consent.  

The Bible says at the Day of Judgment, we will all have to give an account of every idle word (Matthew 12:36).  Even though the Uber passengers may be embarrassed being caught doing what they would not like to be seen doing publicly, God has all of our records (2 Corinthians 5:10).  For those who are worried their secret deeds shall come to light, the Bible says every hidden deed good or evil shall be exposed (Ecclesiastes 12:14).  In spite of God having seen everything we have done, are doing, and will do, He loves us anyway.  He gave His Son Jesus Christ for our salvation from our sins (John 3:16)

Since everything that we do shall be exposed, let us spend our time doing good for others.  We should not worry that we will not get proper credit or glory for our kindness, because God says that we will get a benefit if we don’t give up (Galatians 6:9). The Bible says that since we are surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses (Hebrews 12:1), let us run the race that He has set before us.  God is watching us and wants us to win our race, so let us obey His word and smile!

Matthew 12:36
New International Version (NIV)

36 But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the Day of Judgment for every empty word they have spoken

2 Corinthians 5:10
New International Version (NIV)

10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.

Ecclesiastes 12:14 

New International Version (NIV)

14 For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil.

John 3:16

New International Version (NIV)

16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Galatians 6:9
New International Version (NIV)

9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

Hebrews 12:1
New International Version (NIV)

12 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,