Public vs Private

I have been reading Mark Batterson’s new book Soul Print. I was fortunate enough to receive a preview copy (more on that in a later post.)

He offers a pretty big challenge in the midst of one of his chapters. He is discussing integrity and doing what is right even when it is difficult. Batterson points out a truth about us as individuals: we are probably more concerned with how we look/act/talk in public than in private. The opinion of others is of pretty high importance so we watch the things we do when others are around.

Batterson flips that thought upside down when he writes this: One of my deepest desires is to be a better person in private than I am in public . . . I want those who know me best to respect me most.

I think our natural tendency is to play to the crowd when many people are around and then kind of let our guard down when we are with people close to us.  We are more concerned about the public “me” than the private “me.”  I wonder, what would it require of us to be a better person in private than we are in public?