One winter night composer Johann Sebastian Bach was scheduled to debut a
new composition. He arrived at the church expecting it to be full. Instead, he
learned that no one had come. Without missing a beat, Bach told his musicians
that they would still perform as planned. They took their places, Bach raised
his baton, and soon the empty church was filled with magnificent music.
This story made me do some soul-searching. Would I write if God were my
only audience? How would my writing be different?
New writers are often advised to visualize one person they are writing
to as a way of staying focused. I do this when I write devotionals; I try to
keep readers in mind because I want to say something they will want to read and
that will help them on their spiritual journey.
I doubt that the “devotional writer” David, whose psalms we turn to for
comfort and encouragement, had “readers” in mind. The only audience he had in
mind was God.
Whether our “deeds,” mentioned in Matthew 6, are works of art or acts of
service, we should keep in mind that they’re really between us and God. Whether
or not anyone else sees does not matter. He is our audience.
Serve for an audience of one. (RBC)
