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Imagine you and your colleagues are at your workplace minding your own business, when a guy walks in to talk to your boss. No big deal. No one pays much attention. Then, imagine that one of your co-workers rushes in to inform you that he saw the guy emerge from a chauffeur-driven limousine complete with a police escort. Suddenly, your eyes widen. Your attention is aroused. “Who is that guy?” you all wonder.
Now, imagine you and a dozen friends are sitting around a campfire, laughing and joking, enjoying a starry night and some tasty snacks. You’re all having a laid-back evening with the guys. Someone just told a hilarious joke, and you’re all gasping with laughter and wiping tears from your eyes.
No one has the slightest inclination that one of your buddies sitting around the campfire, laughing and joking with the rest of you, is in reality the Son of the Most High God.
That’s how it should be within Christendom! We should all aspire to be that nameless, faceless person who has no reputation, who doesn’t stand out (nor has any desire to), content to fit in and be just ‘one of the guys’. There should be no line of demarcation, no visible differentiation between us and ‘the world’, no badges or buttons, nothing that would set us apart as being a Child of the Most High God.
I’ve heard it said that if we feel we have to add anything to the title of ‘Child of God’ that something’s amiss. Everything we are is because of the Life contained within our spirit. We have nothing, are nothing, will never be anything BUT nothing apart from that Life. We are all on a level playing field. There are no ‘haves’ or ‘have nots’.
Then why is it that this hierarchy exists within Christendom? One would think that having broken free from the restraints of organized religion a believer would be content to be ‘just one of the guys’, but such is not the case. There are many ‘free range’ believers who had established a name for themselves within the institutionalized church, but who continue to promote themselves outside the IC as being someone who’s just a tad superior to the common, run-of-the-mill believer. They just establish a new following. People flock to their seminars. They buy their books and tapes. They’re widely quoted. They’re perceived as being ‘somebody’. They use terms such as ‘my ministry’ ‘my calling’. They have ‘teachings’ and ‘series’ and inwardly enjoy the deferential treatment they get.
Now, not all formerly high profile, out-of-boxers fit this description, and I am not criticizing the folk who do. We are all subject to deception by the evil one. Satan is wondrously capable of distorting our self-image, and consequently we can justify anything. What we and others might perceive to be ‘God’s anointing’ may simply be pride and self-centredness - which translates into a desire to be noticed and to have others think of us as being special, set apart or on a higher spiritual plain. What is nameless and faceless about that?
Margi
Now, imagine you and a dozen friends are sitting around a campfire, laughing and joking, enjoying a starry night and some tasty snacks. You’re all having a laid-back evening with the guys. Someone just told a hilarious joke, and you’re all gasping with laughter and wiping tears from your eyes.
No one has the slightest inclination that one of your buddies sitting around the campfire, laughing and joking with the rest of you, is in reality the Son of the Most High God.
That’s how it should be within Christendom! We should all aspire to be that nameless, faceless person who has no reputation, who doesn’t stand out (nor has any desire to), content to fit in and be just ‘one of the guys’. There should be no line of demarcation, no visible differentiation between us and ‘the world’, no badges or buttons, nothing that would set us apart as being a Child of the Most High God.
I’ve heard it said that if we feel we have to add anything to the title of ‘Child of God’ that something’s amiss. Everything we are is because of the Life contained within our spirit. We have nothing, are nothing, will never be anything BUT nothing apart from that Life. We are all on a level playing field. There are no ‘haves’ or ‘have nots’.
Then why is it that this hierarchy exists within Christendom? One would think that having broken free from the restraints of organized religion a believer would be content to be ‘just one of the guys’, but such is not the case. There are many ‘free range’ believers who had established a name for themselves within the institutionalized church, but who continue to promote themselves outside the IC as being someone who’s just a tad superior to the common, run-of-the-mill believer. They just establish a new following. People flock to their seminars. They buy their books and tapes. They’re widely quoted. They’re perceived as being ‘somebody’. They use terms such as ‘my ministry’ ‘my calling’. They have ‘teachings’ and ‘series’ and inwardly enjoy the deferential treatment they get.
Now, not all formerly high profile, out-of-boxers fit this description, and I am not criticizing the folk who do. We are all subject to deception by the evil one. Satan is wondrously capable of distorting our self-image, and consequently we can justify anything. What we and others might perceive to be ‘God’s anointing’ may simply be pride and self-centredness - which translates into a desire to be noticed and to have others think of us as being special, set apart or on a higher spiritual plain. What is nameless and faceless about that?
Margi
2 comments:
Rich,
Hmmm....this got me thinking. Thank you for it. It causes me to take a step back and look into my own heart for any hidden motives or agendas. Although I do not honestly believe I have any such, I have to confess that those temptations and thoughts that are of my Old Dark Heart certainly wriggle their way in, trying to tent down.
I loved the two little stories you give here. Jesus certainly did not hoot and holler demanding the spot-light to be on Him. In fact, he shunned it. He knew He needed to relate to all in an "orginary" (although He was much, much more than that, of course) manner.
The ordinary...truly AREN'T. Yet, it is because they are humble in heart, that they are able to much more so in an impacting manner.
I NEVER want to walk in a spirit of demanding the spot-light. For such a light would be angled in the wrong direction. Upon Him is where it belongs.
~Amy :)
http://amyiswalkinginthespirit.blogspot.com
It looks like you are speaking some truth here!
I see a difference between 'demanding the spot-light' verses 'being a special person'. We ARE special because we ARE His children! That title fulfills us, gives us contentment and therefore we do not need the approval, recognition and fame others desire. Deep inside our heart, if we can settle the issue that we are Abba's children, we wouldn't be demanding all the attention from others.
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