A huge audience in my life has been my family. They are great, but I also am constantly aware of what they would think or say of my actions. Of course, there are also people at school—students and teachers— as well as friends, neighbors, and even strangers.
Does performing for an audience of one mean eliminating all other audiences? I don’t think that performing for an audience of one means ignoring what others think or say. In many aspects of life, God uses other humans to speak His truth and guide us or correct us. So, to completely ignore others’ ideas about ones actions is not necessarily the correct way to put this idea into practice. What Guinness is saying, however, is that if God really is approving of what we do, it doesn’t matter what others think. Other audience shouldn’t be eliminated, but their feedback should be looked at to see if it is God’s truth, or something meant to discourage and bring down. I love the quote by Gordon that says, “If He [God] smiles on you, neither the smile or frown of men can affect you.” It is the essence of ‘If God is for us, who can be against us.’
However, it’s one thing to agree with a quote. It’s an entirely different matter to put it into practice and really let an idea change you from the core. This is something I struggle with immensely. I want to be liked; I want people to agree with me. So, I honestly can’t give a good answer. It’s one thing to say, “Just don’t care about what people think you,” and a completely different one to actually live it out. But, I think the best answer to this struggle is to discover more and more of our identity in Christ. Although none of us will truly always be able to perform for an audience of one, I feel that if each of us sees how great God’s love is for us, how important He is in our lives and how permanent His opinion on things, all the supposed importance of other people’s ideas will fade away. God needs to be more than enough.
In view of this chapter and the idea of an Audience of One, should we completely disregard what people around us think if our actions? How can we apply this thought to the idea of gaining wisdom and knowledge from those who are older than us? How can we focus on only God’s opinion and not disregard wise, mature Christians’ opinions in the process?