The Self-Promoting Saga

"God is clearly blessing us." "Thank you Lord for how much you've blessed our efforts." "Our growth is no doubt because of God's favor on us."

The world, even the Christian culture, is claiming God's blessings as signs of approval. There were absolutely instances in the Bible, specifically the Old Testament, where good gifts were signs of God's pleasure and hardships were attributed to His divine disdain.

However, Jesus clearly abolished this singular mentality when a blind man was brought to him with questions about his sins in relation to his disability. Jesus rewired the systemic presuppositions, saying that while "every good and perfect gift is from above," (James 1:17), those gifts often come in the form of hardship and struggle. The man born blind had not sinned, but was able to meet Jesus first-hand and serve as the bearer of miraculous healing (John 9). Likewise, Jesus told His disciples, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish." (Luke 13:2-3) Moreover, Paul and the disciples considered persecution and suffering a joy and privilege because it meant they too were taking part in something Christ himself endured.

So why has the church today began to follow the Old Testament law signaling cultural blessings as a sign of God's satisfaction? Does this mean that small churches, persecuted followers, or third-world countries with little harvests or uncountable numbers must be excluded from God's good pleasure?

Was God not pleased with martyrs like John Elliot who gave up their lives for the gospel only to be killed by the very people they were seeking to save?

Our western culture, or perhaps it's our interconnected globe, seems to encourage self-promotion. We say "thank God" for increasing our ministry or spreading our name over our chosen platform. We say that we are seeking to spread HIS name, but too often we share the "good news" of our increased "following." Then we "thank Jesus" for the growth. When our livelihood, our influence, and our relevance depend on self-promotion, we enter a self-reinforcement cycle.

How do we escape? How do we remain relevant without self-promoting? How do we keep from focusing on our influence if our "followers" dictate our income? How do we use technology for good? How do we stay connected without entering a self-reinforcing environment?

Well, we get back to Shakespeare's question: "What's in a name?" Some names hold more significance than others, but even as his name was spreading across the US and the Atlantic Ocean, D.L. Moody had this to say about self-promotion back in the 19th century: "If we lift up ourselves and say we have got such great meetings and such crowds are coming, and get to think about crowds and about the people, and get our minds off from God, and are not constantly in communion with Him, lifting out hearts in prayer, this work will be a stupendous failure," (Dorsett, Lyle. A Passion for Souls, 1997, pg 241). This all came from a man who had little education and absolutely zero posts and tweets.

There's the answer. Stop thinking about self. Stop talking about self. Get off the crowded platform long enough to hear God speak. And actually listen. Let Him direct you, and not the "next step" of influencing. He can choose to use your name or not. We would all be wise to heed the advice of Proverbs, "Let someone else praise you, and not your own mouth; an outsider, and not your own lips. The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but people are tested by their praise." (27:2,21) When the church ceases to praise herself, God will be able to use her for His kingdom.

We are learning how to spot the cities and churches illuminating the Lord rather than themselves. In turn, we are hoping to be that same kind of light, learning how to build up others and encourage them as we travel around to meet them...

~ Carefully & Carelessly Promoting Jesus