The stage is such a dangerous place to be. Every time I step on a stage, it feels like drinking a little bit of poison. In my spirit, I want to give God the glory and magnify Him as holy, but meanwhile, in the flesh there is this constant temptation to be distracted by what people are thinking and how they will respond to the message. Especially in this age where anything you say can go viral in an instant, and be subject to the praise or criticism of literally millions of people, a platform really is poisonous to the soul.
Back when I was first getting started in ministry, not many people aspired to become famous. There were a few big names in the Christian world, but nothing like the celebrity culture that has become rampant in the decades since. In those days, there were not many ways to get exposure, so it wasn’t something most people ever thought about. I get concerned for this generation because all you’ve ever known is this strange time we now live in where everyone is constantly marketing themselves. We can create instant platforms to share our opinions with the world, without ever getting off the couch or looking another human in the eyes. To many of you this feels completely normal, but it’s really not. For thousands of years of human history, this was not the norm, and I think we underestimate the effect this has had on us and on the church.
1 Thessalonians 4:11-12 says “aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, so that you may walk properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.”
Another translation reads “make it your ambition to live a quiet life.” When you think about your life and your goals, would you consider it your ambition to live a quiet life? So often I hear young people these days talk about how they dream of speaking to big crowds, and being a voice to their generation. We’re living in a time when it’s assumed that the virtuous thing to do is get a bigger and bigger crowd, and that the more followers you have, the more successful you are as a Christian. And yet the Scriptures tell us to aspire to live quietly, and mind our own affairs.
I'm not saying it’s not important to proclaim the gospel, and if you read the context of 1 Thessalonians, in chapter 1 Paul talks about how their faith is being proclaimed all around the world so that he doesn't even have to say anything about it. But let me ask you, can you show me any verse in Scripture where Jesus pursued a crowd, or where he told his disciples to go out and bring more friends to listen to his messages? Because I see the opposite. I see him running from crowds, and going to great lengths to escape the crowds and be alone with the Father. So I just think it's strange that we assume that what God wants us to do is chase crowds on His behalf.
Let me ask you another question. What did Jesus do when he was 23? We know that He was a carpenter in His early life. Do you know what He did when He was 25? Well, He was probably a better carpenter. How about when He was 29? My point is, this is Jesus - the Son of God. How is it that we know almost nothing about what He did for the first 30 years of His life? It’s almost like He made it His ambition to live a quiet life and to work hard with His hands.
There's a principle in Luke 16:10, which says that “he who is faithful in little will be faithful in much.” I love the passion that I see in the younger generations today, and it’s out of my love for you that I feel a need to tell you that you have to be faithful in the little before you can be a voice to the world.
Right now, the world needs fewer voices and more examples.
