Strive For Obscurity

'For promotion cometh neither from the east, nor from the west, nor from the south. But God is the judge: he putteth down one, and setteth up another.' Psalm 75:6-7

As a follower of Christ you are called to be a servant. A servant does not seek his own, but that which is another's. Throughout Scripture, God warns His people with statements like, 'Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.'[1]

If the Almighty wants you in a position of leadership, He can find you, just as He found Saul 'hid among the stuff.'[2] Self-promotion is counterproductive in the Christian life, simply because it seeks significance from a source other than God. In the old western movies, the theme often centered on a gun-fighter who, upon becoming the fastest gun in town, sat at the saloon drinking himself into a stupor over fear that some day someone would ride into town who would prove to be faster than he. The fruit of satisfied ambition leaves you with the same nagging fear; someday someone a little more clever, popular, or profound will replace you.

You strive for obscurity, not because of timidity or a lack of hope, but rather because you desire recognition from God and He says 'whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.'[3] Greed expresses itself in temporal ambition; godly hope expresses itself in eternal ambition. 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.'[4] You strive for obscurity because you embrace the value system of God rather than that of the world.


[1] Proverbs 27:2
[2] I Samuel 10:22
[3] I Peter 5:6
[4] Matthew 25:21