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By Van Sprague

It’s a common mantra. “I don’t care what anyone thinks.” Living this way can mean that you are confident and care about doing what is right, regardless of what anyone says. On the other hand, it could mean that you want to do what you want, so you just don’t care. Should we care about what anyone thinks?

The short answer is we should care about what God thinks. That means there are times when we should give more consideration to the thoughts of others and times we should give less.

God desires all people to be saved (1 Timothy 2:4). He expects us to honor and submit to everyone, including fellow Christians, unless it would contradict His will (1 Peter 2:13-18; Ephesians 5:21; Acts 4:19; Romans 13). We are meant to use or lose whatever might be at our disposal so that we can reach the lost and edify the saved (1 Corinthians 9:19-23; 2 Corinthians 12:15).

First Thessalonians 5:22 says, “Abstain from every form of evil” (Unless otherwise stated: Scripture is taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Used by permission. All rights reserved). If this means that we should be sure that nothing we do even looks evil, this not only emphasizes pure living, it indicates that what we appear to condone through our actions matters.

Instead of “form,” the King James translation uses “appearance.” Some believe that the word can be “kind.” If the word means “kind”, the argument is made that this verse isn’t concerned about what might look evil, but different kinds of evil. There are a couple of reasons this is a moot point. First of all, we’ve already seen other verses in the Bible that show it is important to consider what others may think of what we do. Further, when you consider other places the word translated “form” is used, you can see that it concerns itself with what is seen (See Luke 3:22; 9:20; John 5:37, and 2 Corinthians 5:7).

Won’t some people think the worst of us no matter what? Sure. But someone else’s poor behavior never excuses us from doing what is right. As much as is in our power, we are to try to live peaceably with all (Romans 12:18). Sometimes it is not within our power, so we ensure that we live with a good conscience toward God. Then, as someone’s accusations do not stick, they may be put to shame and we grow in favor with God and those who are trying to judge righteously (1 Peter 2:12; 3:16; Luke 2:52; John 7:24).

We can’t get away from the fact that it does matter what others think of what we do. We are either light or we are darkness. When others see you, are they likely to be drawn nearer to God or repelled from Him?

Van Sprague is an evangelist at the Church of Christ at Houston Park. He has a wife and three children. Come Visit! Sunday morning Bible class is at 9, with worship at 10 am and 5 pm. Wednesday night Bible class is at 6.