UNOBTRUSIVE

1 Corinthians 2:2-5—For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.

My wife and I are opposites. I have always loved to share in front of large groups of people—either because my father helped build my confidence as a youngster or because I have an enlarged ham bone. My wife’s favorite place is the back of the room. She loves the opportunity to serve away from the spotlight as anonymously as possible. I learn a lot from my wife.

In a society that craves heroes, the servant is often snubbed or ignored. In a noisy land it is the quiet who are trounced. If the common pursuit of God’s siblings is fame, the world will get its show but it won’t be a pretty picture. When the mother of two of Jesus’ disciples, the Sons of Thunder, made her pitch for her boys to sit in heaven on His left and right, Jesus did not applaud her ambition, He refocused their quest. He defined greatness by serving and referenced Himself as their example to follow (Matthew 20:20-28).

Perhaps you’re frustrated by feelings of spiritual inadequacy or the need to be noticed. May I encourage you with this thought? Jesus does not measure your worth by the noise of the applause, He loves you for who you are. Your value is in the arms of the Savior not the spotlight of the theater, or the nursery in the other room. Set your eyes on Jesus. He provides His Holy Spirit to guide us in conduct with the expectation that we would love and enjoy Him unhindered by fleeting passions, unobtrusive in our behavior.

Do you know someone who tirelessly serves God without seeking recognition? How about giving that person a call, writing a note, or email message sharing how much you appreciate his or her example. Be an encourager! We spend too little time hoisting each other up the slopes of Mt. Destiny. Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds (Hebrews 10:24).

Inspiration

We are called to be unobtrusive disciples, not heroes. When we are right with God, the tiniest thing done out of love to Him is more precious to Him than any eloquent preaching of a sermon. We have introduced into our conception of Christianity heroic notions that come from paganism and not from the teaching of Our Lord. Jesus warned His disciples that they would be treated as nobodies; He never said they would be brilliant or marvelous. We all have a lurking desire to be exhibitions for God, to be put, as it were, in His show room. Jesus does not want us to be specimens, He wants us to be so taken up with Him that we never think about ourselves, and the only impression left on others by our life is that Jesus Christ is having unhindered way.—Oswald Chambers in So Send I You