“Uzziah rested with his fathers and was buried near them in a field for burial that belonged to the kings, for people said, “He had leprosy.” And Jotham his son succeeded him as king.” (2Chron 26:23NIV)
Why was Uzziah not buried where the kings before him had been buried? It was because he had leprosy. And how did that matter? Could his corpse contaminate the skeletons of his ancestors in their tomb? No! What is the difference between a leprous corpse and any other corpse? Isn’t a dead body a dead body, whether clean or leprous? It is.
Nevertheless, because the people of the land of Judah were all saying that Uzziah died a leprous king and should not be buried with the kings before him, his son who succeeded him and the palace administrators decided to bury him in a nearby cemetery. So, public sentiments prevailed.
But then, Uzziah was a great king and lover of God. The land was at rest all through the fifty-two years of his reign. And the people also prospered greatly during his reign because God was with him to give him marvellous help. Yet public sentiments would not allow him to get a befitting royal burial when he died. And that was because he allowed pride in his life and came under God’s judgment of leprosy. What a shame! (Cf. 2Chro 26:1-22)
Now what is the point of this? It is that public sentiments often mean a lot in life. And it does not matter whether these sentiments are founded on truth or falsehood, they can go a long way in determining how the majority will treat us. So, riding on public sentiments, an entirely useless and dishonesty person can attain an important position in the society. Similarly, through public sentiments, an upright and godly person like Jesus Christ may end up a cross.
Therefore, even though we, as children of God, should never live our lives for the praise of men, we must not allow ourselves to foolishly or ignorantly become victims of public sentiments. This, in fact, is one of the reasons our Lord Jesus says this to us: “In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matt 5:16NIV)
Did you see that? Our good works must be obvious and not advertised. In other words, we are to live in such a way that people will readily see that we are good and also full of good and righteous works. And where this is the case, we won’t need to pay anyone to advertise our good works; those good works will speak for themselves.
In any case, the Lord’s point is that public sentiments must always be in our favour, as far as doing what is good and righteous is concerned. Why? It is so that God may be praised because of us. This, of course, does not mean that people will love us or want to vote us into public offices because of our good and righteous works. Rather, it means that even if they have to reject or denounce us, it will not be because public sentiments present us as wicked, hypocritical or bias but because they present us as individuals who are too upright, righteous and honest to allow evil to reign. And that is not a bad testimony.
Therefore, as Paul did, let us learn to always do what is good and right, not just in the sight of God but also in the sight of men (2Cor 8:21). And let us equally learn to take advantage of God’s grace to rid our lives of all forms of obvious imperfections that could give room for blame. Then we won’t be foolishly or ignorantly building public sentiments against ourselves and the Christian faith.
Cheers!
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