How am I doing?

Ed Koch, 3 term mayor of New York City, often asked the people around him, "How'm I doing?" He did all right as a politician, leading a great city and winning multiple elections. I wonder if Koch wanted a substantive answer did he just want to know how he was managing his image?

Here at the end of 2013, it is a good time to ask yourself, “How am I doing?”   There’s a little line tucked into the Scripture often read before Communion in our churches.  Paul urges us to do periodic check-ups, honest evaluations!  "A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup." (1 Corinthians 11:28, NIV) Why should we do that? What good is introspection?  He answers the question reminding us that  “if we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment." (1 Corinthians 11:31, NIV)  If we are honest when we ask, “How am I doing?” and correct the course of our lives to align to our Father’s will, if we tackle sins with the help of the Spirit while they are in their infancy, we avoid serious consequences later on.

Are you one of those Christians who has misunderstood the grace of God to the extent that you fail to grasp that He is perfectly capable of holding us accountable?  He empowers us to be loving, to give away our Self, to serve the purposes of His kingdom and He expects that we will do so. The Bible speaks of a moment that every Christian will face.  Will it be a glorious one in which we hear Him say, “Way to go. Good job. Receive your reward!” or will we stand as one naked, our failures exposed?   Read this: "Remember, there is only one foundation, the one already laid: Jesus Christ. Take particular care in picking out your building materials. Eventually there is going to be an inspection. If you use cheap or inferior materials, you’ll be found out. The inspection will be thorough and rigorous. You won’t get by with a thing. If your work passes inspection, fine; if it doesn’t, your part of the building will be torn out and started over. But you won’t be torn out; you’ll survive—but just barely. You realize, don’t you, that you are the temple of God, and God himself is present in you."  (1 Corinthians 3:11-16, The Message)

That's why I periodically take time to reflect using hard questions --
Do my private thoughts match my public words?
Do my secret prayers line up with my pulpit prayers?
Does my level of affection for God's people in my heart equal my professions of love?
Is God first in my mind and heart, all of the time?'

Most of us do well when the spotlight is shining on us, but the real question is - "who am I when no one's looking?"  Jesus reminds us of a sobering fact. Reality is eventually discovered! He said it in these words: A good person produces good deeds from a good heart, and an evil person produces evil deeds from an evil heart. Whatever is in your heart determines what you say. “So why do you call me ‘Lord,’ when you won’t obey me?" (Luke 6:45-46, NLT) That's why religion never pleases God if it's focused only on changing external behaviors. It's not enough that He merely appear to be our Lord. He must be our Lord.  Real faith always produces observable change in character.

With enough coercion or pressure, most of us can be made to conform our actions and words to some externally imposed standard. We can hold that conformity for some time, depending our self-discipline, but our true self will always emerge. Usually that happens in the 'crunch!' When things go bad, when the heat is turned up, when we hit wall after wall- our true character is revealed.  The carefully managed images we build collapse under that pressure.

So, there is no time like the present to take time for self-evaluation. As we ask ourselves, "How'm I doing?" it needs to be a kind of prayer that invites the Holy Spirit to help us to see under the surface. David prayed, "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life." (Psalm 139:23-24, NLT)

"How'm I doing, Lord?"
______________________________

Search me, O God, And know my heart today;
Try me, O Savior, Know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be some wicked way in me;
Cleanse me from every sin and set me free.

I praise Thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin;
Fulfill Thy Word, and make me pure within.
Fill me with fire where once I burned with shame;
Grant my desire to magnify Thy name.

Lord, take my life, and make it wholly Thine;
Fill my poor heart with Thy great love divine.
Take all my will, my passion, self and pride;
I now surrender, Lord, in me abide.

Cleanse Me, Edwin J. Orr
Copyright: Public Domain