The end of myself…
This great post, written by my literary agent, Rachelle Gardner, hit the nail on the head, so to speak, in my contemplations of the article I shared yesterday.
As I said…a central theme, a bull horn message, a “God wants my attention”–listen up word about reputation.
He (Jesus) MADE HIMSELF, a man on no reputation, TAKING ON the very nature of a SERVANT. Phil 2:7
The article by R. Scott Rodin says it this way:
“I have come to believe that true Christian leadership is an ongoing, disciplined practice of becoming a person of no reputation, thus becoming more like Christ in this unique way”
Mr Scott quotes Henri Nouwen who says “I am deeply convinced that the Christian leader of the future is called to be COMPLETELY IRRELEVANT and to stand in this world with NOTHING TO OFFER but his or her own vulnerable self”
Oh my.
It seems kind of funny to think that I spent so many years trying to get HEALED of my broken self worth, only to discover that when it’s all been said and it’s all been done….MY SELF WORTH is meaningless.
Jesus, not only DETERMINED to press past thoughts and focus on His own self worth, the Bible says He MADE HIMSELF a man on no reputation.
How do you think He did that?
I mean He was famous, talked about, written about, hated and loved.
He spoke publicly to big crowds. He used Fish as cash withdraw machines and boats as beds.
He created public scenes. He revealed children as heros and leaders as liars. That caused some talk.
What was it about Jesus that empowered Him to be a Leader and a Servant all at once?
I would love to hear your thoughts….
How does that look in YOUR life??
Your comment enters you in my February drawing. If you don’t have a BLOG or website, remember to leave your email!
I am giving the latest book by my sweet friend Lysa Terkeurst, a Made to Crave KIT (not CARVE :)(no matter how hard I try or how many times I edit–YOU WILL find typos on my blog post–you just will) on February 26Th to one of my blog guests/commenters during the Love month!
Pat,
As I was on the treadmill (that tool of Satan) this morning at the gym, I was reading a copy of “Leadership Journal”. How I got that journal in the mail is still a mystery to me, but I digress.
The focus of this issue is ‘Ambitions” and there were a couple of quotes that nearly slayed me. One particular article interviewed a man named Dale Harvey and the title of the article is “The Glory Drive”. The question to Mr. Harvey is: How do you distinguish godly from selfish ambition?
The first part of his answer was this: One way is by whether I’m doing something with God in view or with people in view. Godly ambition pursues God; selfish ambition pursues favorable comparison with other people”.
Well, alrighty then. I’m really ruminating on all of this to make absolutely certain that what I do in ministry, on my blog, on Facebook, etc is with God in view. I pray it is, but I fear that there is selfish ambition lurking in the recesses of my heart.
Leah,
I agree and exactly what I was pondering this morning—Whose in my View??
Great question to ask ourselves about everything we endeavor to embrace.
I’ with you. Sometimes I “get it” right and sometimes, I don’t.
Gotta love the journey, right?
p