It’s the slow, steady rhythms that will lead us to look more like Christ. So many want to do “big things for God,” yet they’ve never mastered the small disciplines the Lord desires most. We learn about so-called “celebrity Christians” crashing and burning with alarming regularity. In a previous post, I posited the question pondering if there should even be such a thing as “celebrity Christians.”
I am convinced the answer is an unequivocal and emphatic “NO!” It seems everyone wants a platform or to be an influencer these days. I understand why those with a secular worldview would desire such things, but it baffles me why Christians would seek these things as well. Whatever happened to living lives of quiet humility (1 Thessalonians 4:9–12)?
In the first recorded sermon of Jesus, His emphasis was on living in quiet humility. Look at the attributes He called out as being blessed in His sermon on the mount: being poor in spirit (Matthew 5:3), mourning (Matthew 5:4), gentleness (Matthew 5:5), hungering for righteousness (Matthew 5:6), showing mercy (Matthew 5:7), living in purity (Matthew 5:8), making peace (Matthew 5:9), and enduring persecution (Matthew 5:10). Jesus was quick to condemn those who paraded their works for all to see (Matthew 6:1–2), and just as quick to exalt those who came to Him in full recognition of their unworthiness (Luke 18:13–14).
Nowhere in Scripture do we find those who walked closest to God doing any form of self-promotion. All they wanted to do was to know God (Philippians 3:8–11). Just meditating on His Word was enough for them (Psalm 119:97). It wasn’t about personal wealth or power, they wanted to know the Father (Jeremiah 9:23–24). Contrast that with today’s bombastic era of television and internet ministries that are busy pumping out content to grow their influence, platform, and reputation. I don’t want a platform, just Jesus. I want to help and encourage others to live their lives devoted to Christ. That is more than enough.
That doesn’t make me better than anyone else, but it is a constant reminder for me. We are not called to point anyone to ourselves. Our calling is to point everyone to Jesus (Matthew 28:19–20). This life is not about us, it’s all about Him. Jesus lived His life in quiet humility, so if we want to look like Christ, we must do the same. Never believe in your own press and never be proud about how much the Lord is blessing you or your ministry. You and I have nothing to do with any blessing because we know all good things come from God (James 1:17).
There is nothing we can do on our own (John 15:5), so just relax and allow God to use you however He sees fit. Few of us will ever achieve any name recognition in this world because God didn’t call us to be exalted in the eyes of the world. He calls us to lead people to Him by living lives of quiet humility and practicing the steady disciplines of prayer and Bible study (Micah 6:8; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; Psalm 1:2). When we are walking in the footsteps of Jesus, He will bring people into our lives that we can minister to and tell the good news of the gospel. That’s the only platform any of us need. To be the hands and feet of Jesus and to serve in quiet humility is the highest calling of all.