As I was watching some of the Masters Golf tournament this past weekend, they showed a highlight I had missed at the end of last year’s tournament. After Hideki Matsuyama finished off his final round of the 2021 Masters, becoming the first Asian player to win a major tournament in the States, the crowds had drifted away from the 18^th green.

At some point after the crowds had left, Matsuyama’s caddie, Shota Hayafuji, came back to perform his final duty as caddie for the tournament—he got the pin flag from the 18^th hole. That’s one of the traditional perks for the tournament winner—you get the pin flag for the tournament, and it’s usually the caddie who retrieves it while the player is meeting with the Media and whatnot.

So Hayafuji came back to the empty 18^th green to retrieve the pin flag. And after returning the pin to the cup, he quietly and humbly bowed to the course. Bowing is, of course, a gesture of respect in his culture, and in a sport like golf, you’re not just competing against the other players; you’re competing against the course itself. And so, alone there on the green, Hayafuji expressed his respect to the course.

At least, he THOUGHT he was alone. Unbeknownst to him, longtime CBS cameraman Eric Leidel was still up in his perch on the 18^th hole’s camera tower, and recorded the gesture.

And of course, when CBS showed it, it went viral. As I watched it, I thought about how he did that, not knowing anyone was there to see him. It was just a sincere gesture he offered from the heart. But someone DID see it; and RECORDED it. And before long, Hayafuji was almost as famous as the golfer he caddied for. I was reminded of how important it is to be consistent in the way we live, because someone DOES see everything we do.

But more than that, I was encouraged to think that God doesn’t just see the mistakes we make, but also the good things we do that nobody else sees. He sees us when we’re serving behind the scenes, doing things that others rarely know about. Whether it’s fixing things at the church building in the evenings, or checking on those who are in nursing homes or who can’t get out, or listening when someone is going through a struggle and needs someone to talk to. Those moments aren’t caught on camera; they don’t go viral online. But God DOES see them.

In Matthew 6, Jesus tells us to do what’s right, and to do it for an audience of one. He says, “Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.” He says to pray privately, not for others to see us and praise us for how eloquent we are. He tells us to do our giving in secret—not so others will know and praise us for our generosity. He says, “When you fast, don’t let it be obvious that you’re fasting.” When we do what’s right without calling attention to ourselves, He says, “then your Father, who sees in secret, will reward you.”

Sometimes we go day after day, doing the right thing, and while we know that doing what’s right should be its own reward, our human nature says, “Yeah, but it would be nice to get some acknowledgment once in a while.”