At one of my first, big political seminars, I was truly overwhelmed to be there. It was my first federal campaign, and I felt like I did not belong. Everyone else was far more experienced than I was, and I just wanted to learn and do well. One of my newly made friends there told me, “you’ll be fine. Just watch and listen. Take notes. Before long, you will be telling someone else the same thing, when they’re the new, nervous one.”
I think of that advice quite often. “Just watch and listen.”
If the world is watching us and listening to us right now, what are they seeing and hearing?
Another excellent piece of advice I received while I was still in politics was, “When you are out in public, act like a camera crew is following you around. Because more than likely, someone with a camera is watching you. Make sure whatever they are watching would not embarrass you.”
This was even before everyone and their grandma had a camera in their hands, on their phones.
One of my coworkers on a campaign was married to a guy who never allowed a photo of himself to be taken with an alcoholic drink in his hand. His reasoning, “I don’t ever want a client to see me with a drink and think I drink too much.” While I certainly understood his reasoning, I don’t care if you see me with a glass of wine in my hand. I have nothing to hide.
In this day and age, we should assume everything we put in writing can be forwarded, and every photo taken of us can be shared. Case in point - the famous Christian University president and the sexual story saga. What a husband and a wife do is between a husband and a wife. Bring in a third party while lecturing others on the sanctity of marriage, and you have lost a lot of listeners.
“The Lord is watching everywhere, keeping his eye on both the evil and the good.” - Proverbs 15:3 (NLT)
It is good advice to just watch and listen. Before we blindly follow or support someone, we need to know if what they are doing aligns with what God tells us to do? Because even if we do not see everything, God sees it. He is watching everywhere, keeping His eye on both the evil and the good.
That gives me great comfort. Meanwhile, let’s watch and listen. And keep in mind … the world is watching and listening to us, too.