"Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; someone else, and not your own lips." -Proverbs 27:2 (NET)
*This is sort of a part two in a series of blog posts. Previously I wrote about living a quiet life in a loud world. While today's post can stand on its own, it pairs well with the last one.
We live in a loud world. What I mean by this is that there is a perpetual stream of voices entering our heads at any given time. Social media, a constant flow of news from around the world, smart phones, streaming, music, and text messages seem to inundate us. There is always an outside voice. Few of us ever take the time to find silence and solitude in this world. On top of it all, there is a pressure on many of us. We feel like we have to promote ourselves, to grow our brand. Right? Do you feel this as I do? I mean, if you don't promote yourself who will? I hear this often. As a person who literally makes a living speaking, teaching, and writing, I tangibly feel this pressure often. However, the Scriptures tell a different story than our culture is telling.
Remember that time when Jesus' family and I'm sure many others were pressuring him to go out and promote himself, to build his brand? Take a look...
"Now the Jewish feast of Tabernacles was near. So Jesus’ brothers advised him, “Leave here and go to Judea so your disciples may see your miracles that you are performing. For no one who seeks to make a reputation for himself does anything in secret. If you are doing these things, show yourself to the world." -John 7:2-4 (NET)
There is a lot going on in these few verses, but I will mention only a few things. First, Jesus' brothers doubted him. Verse 5 says as much if you want to open your bible and take a look at it. They were pushing him into a situation, perhaps a bang or bust sort of scenario. It was a "show us what you got hotshot" sort of moment. Sometimes the pressure to self-promote comes from this sort of negative attention. Someone tells us they don't believe we can do what we claim to do so they tell us to prove it. Then we feel that we need to justify ourselves before them so we self-promote. Second, Jesus' brothers essentially give him some business advice rather than biblical, God-centered advice. They tell him that basically, everybody who wants to be anybody goes out and promotes his personal brand. Jesus' response to them was that his time had not yet come. Interesting. He was doing many miracles already, but he was not willing to make a performance out of them, nor did Jesus seek for himself to be elevated before others. In fact, Jesus actually tried to hide what he was doing. Many times he told those who were healed to go see the priest to make the proper offering as thanks to God, but to tell no one about what happened. According to worldly wisdom, this is the opposite of how you get the word out about yourself. This is the opposite of how we are taught to grow ourselves as speakers, authors, theologians, philosophers, and general leaders but this is how Jesus operated.
Jesus himself said that it was his Father who glorified him, not others' opinions of him or his own ability to promote his personal brand. In other words, what mattered to Jesus wasn't his popularity or the approval of people, but the approval of his Father in Heaven. This was really the heart of his true appeal. He was indeed human, but he did not behave like most other humans who were all about self-promotion and seeking their own glory.
I will submit to you one more example. One of the greatest men to live in our time was (in my humble opinion) Dallas Willard. You may or may not have heard of him, and I guarantee he would be fine either way. Dallas was a philosopher who loved Jesus with all his heart. He wrote many books about discipleship and walking with God. The amazing character of his life was evident to everyone who knew him. He was a very unassuming man. He would not have looked like a celebrity if you met him and yet millions were drawn to him. I heard a story recently from a man who had attended a conference in the early 2000s. There were many notable speakers holding breakout sessions there. Many were well know church leaders and young pastors who were articulate and acclaimed. The man who told this story said he walked around during the breakout sessions to see how many people were in each one. They all had a handful of people in them, but one breakout in particular was packed to the brim. It was so full people were sitting in the hallway. You probably already see where this is going, but most people would think it was probably one of those popular celebrity pastors demanding such an audience. Of course it wasn't. It was an old, gray haired, somewhat pudgy man sitting on a stool and talking about his life walking with Jesus. Those young pastors filling the room hung on his every word. Why? It wasn't because he was flashy or had it all together. It wasn't because he was the greatest speaker and had really propped himself up. He didn't have his own line of clothing or a fancy logo. He had never pastored a mega-church. What he had was character forged by relentless commitment to Christ, and God himself loves to promote that. He loves to promote it because only God can produce that in a man. These men were in Dallas Willard's workshop because the Holy Spirit drew them there. God promoted Dallas, not Dallas.
This brings us back full circle. Our world is loud and each of us are pressured into contributing to the noise. We feel that we have to promote ourselves, to make a name for ourselves. We think we need Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook followers to make a great impact. We clamor for likes and retweets. In truth, the only one we truly need to know who we are is God. If we live for his glory and not our own, if we focus on building character in Christ rather than a brand, God himself will promote us. People who want to follow Jesus will follow us as we follow Christ. They will do so not because we are great, but because Jesus is great in us.
So... let's not buy into all the hype. Don't listen to the people who say you have to make much of yourself. If you are doing worthy things, the Lord will accomplish his will through you. Jesus didn't seek out the crowds, they sought him. Be like Jesus. Oh, and just in case you forgot the Proverb I quoted to begin this post...
"Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; someone else, and not your own lips." -Proverbs 27:2 (NET)
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