Vanity

Something that I have a difficult time understanding are people that find it necessary to constantly show off. It doesn't really matter what it is that they are showing off about, whether it's musical, mental, physical, whatever. Just anything that they are obviously doing just to draw attention to themselves. Especially if they are doing it constantly. And even more so when they are clearly not all that good at whatever they are doing. Take, for instance, this guy that I didn't ever meet out at Harding. Now, for a while the cafeteria had a piano in it, for whatever reason. And everyday when I'd go to lunch or dinner, this guy would be sitting there, playing around on it, playing the same song or two over and over and over. Having played piano for a number of years, I would get quite annoyed listening to this guy showing off for anyone and everyone in the cafeteria, whether they wanted to hear it or not. Of course, there were always a couple girls that would go over and faun over him, which I'm sure was his main objective to begin with. In my mind, it doesn't make any sense why you would feel the need to just go over and start drawing attention to yourself about some ability that you really don't possess. Or even if you did, why you would want to just have people come over and start telling you how good you are.

Mandi has made the solid point to me that talents, such as playing the piano (or whatever the talent happens to be for whoever happens to possess it), is a God-given talent and that it shouldn't be kept from other people as it can bring joy to them. I understand her point, and realize that I do have a talent in terms of my piano-playing ability that God has given me, and that I should be willing to share that talent and ability with other people. But where do you draw the line between doing something for the glory of God and doing something to bring recognition to yourself? Or is there even a line there to be drawn? Is having a talent always going to bring personal recognition, and from that allow other people to recognize God through my ability?

It's something that I have a tremendous difficulty dealing with. I, for one, hate having people ask me to play the piano, especially in public places, because I do not want people coming up and telling me what they think of my playing, whether it be good or bad. I don't want to appear as conceited and vain like others that find it necessary to just go out and proclaim to the world how amazing they think they are at something (this applies to practically every young guitarist I've ever walked past). I don't want to make other people think like I do 99% o the time that I hear/see someone doing something to draw attention to themselves and get annoyed at them trying to get 15 minutes of fame whenever they can. I also realize, however, the my playing does make people happy and that some people enjoy listening to it, as it is a talent, and not something that everyone can do well. I would like to think that not everyone that plays does it simply to see how many girls (or guys) they can get to pay attention to them for a couple minutes. But how do you make the distinction between seeking recognition and giving glory? How can you keep it from being a matter of personal pride? How do you ensure that people see your action as one of praise to God, and not as a show of vanity?