Someone Is Watching You by David Achata

“If you’re going to date my daughter, you need to learn what it means to be a man of prayer.”

That’s what my girlfriend’s father told me when I was 18 years old. The next thing I knew, I was at a Promise Keepers conference. It was the most awkward, fascinating, inspiring event I’d ever attended up to that point in my life. For the first time ever, I saw grown men crying, praying and at the same time bashing chests together screaming victory chants about how they were going to be great men of God in this generation. I left that experience with a vision to be a man of God and a spiritual leader. Why? It wasn’t so much because of the conference, but what I saw in the man who invited me.

Jim was his name, and he was (and still is) a man of prayer. At that time, I remember him talking about a particular fascination he’d developed with early morning prayer. He’d observed that interesting things always seemed to happen at the wee hours of the morning in scripture. So he was up every morning by 4 a.m., walking and praying – sometimes for hours. I didn’t understand it then, but now I do. The example he lived seared an idea in my mind of what it looks like to live a life devoted to Jesus. I don’t know if he thought about it, but I was watching.

Whether you’re young or old, tall or short, fat or skinny, black or white—someone is watching you. Whether you’re married or single, parent or not—someone is watching you. What are they seeing?

Statistics show that most Christians have lulled themselves into spiritual complacency. The Barna group reports that fewer than 10% of Christian families spend any time during a typical week engaging in any spiritual conversation or activity. Yet, 72% of Christian parents believe they are doing well when it comes to providing regular spiritual experiences and instruction to their children. (p. 125, Transforming Children into Spiritual Champions) Do you see a contradiction here?

According to a survey by America's Research Group, 95% of kids from Christian families attended church regularly up until middle school. Then at High School, that number fell to 55%. But by the time they reached college, only 11% of those same kids were attending any church on a regular basis. That’s right—11%. And that’s just the Christian kids. That’s not even taking into account that today 15% of Americans claim no religion. Yet, when the same survey was done on 18 to 34-year-olds, the number of young adults who claim no religion shot up to 46%. (American Religious Identification Survey) Yikes! The younger a person gets today, the more likely they are to not attend church.

Why? It’s because they are watching us. These stats don’t mean these people have no faith. Sixty two percent of that same group claim to be spiritual. Simply put, many are leaving church to find faith. Why? I think it’s because they are seeing the time (or lack of it) those who claim to be Christian spend in study and prayer. They’re watching how we treat one another. They are seeing how we spend our leisure time and how we act when we work.

In 2 Kings 2:7-10, Elijah is about to be taken away. He asks Elisha (his protégé), “What can I do for you, before I am taken from you; ask anything.” Elisha said, “Your life repeated in my life. I want to be a holy man, just like you.” (The Message) That’s the cry of my heart. As I look to Jesus, I see a holy man I want to know and be like, and it’s my hope that others see my life and say the same about me. What about you?

I attribute much of what I’ve become to a handful of people I’ve watched through the years. Would you make a commitment with me? Spend 30 minutes each day looking at the life of Jesus in the Gospels for 7 days this week. See how it affects you, and notice if it affects others around you. I’d love to hear what happens.

The world is watching.

David Achata