Do you ever get that weird feeling like people talk about you? Like you walk into a room and the conversation stops or you spot your boss looking at your cube to see if you are there. That is all oogy. I think though the proper course of action is to not care. Really what can you do? When I was a teen I used to care what everyone thought of me. As I got older I learned to accept that I cannot control what other people think of me. That was very liberating. Then I realized if whatever they thought was important enough to me they would tell me. That is even more liberating. Then I realized that since they didn't tell me their thoughts about me that it is not important at all. Now I am liberated.

Of course being free to not care is a good thing but can be misused. For instance, sure you have freedom to not care about your appearance, but is it not better to put a good foot forward to squelch any prejudices people may have? I always think about the race that is mentioned in the Bible. Basically there is analogy that we are all running a race. At the end of our race is heaven. At the end of some peoples race is not heaven. A good Christian's job is to run the race side by side with everyone on Earth and as we run we point them towards our finish line. It gets even deeper. Some laws separate us from non-Christians. We are given permission to not follow them so that we may win others to Christ. That is how we are suppose to become just like non-Christians, except our finish line is different. Some people point that Christians who act "conservative" are good and the ones that act "liberal" are bad. Why? Because the outside world expects us to follow our own laws, which are basically designed for us to be good healthy moral people.

The problem is, as Paul found out, that good healthy moral people don't associate with the bad unhealthy immoral people. Most actually judge them and condemn them. It is grace that saves us so it is grace that we need for others. I remember back in the day when I gave messages to the homeless I would stress one of my favorite verses: "Mercy triumphs over judgement." So really what we need to be doing is try to be like those who need Jesus. To go to the environments where people need salvation. So what does this have to do with people who talk about you behind your back? Well, nothing. I am free to write whatever I want. I am liberated. Are you?