The greatest among you must be your servant for whoever promotes himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be promoted.”
Matthew 23:12 (CJB)
Self-promotion seems to be what all of us are told to do. “Promote yourself.” “Put yourself out there.” “Become an influencer.”
Isn’t social media mostly just self-promotion?
- Look at MY car.
- Look at what I ate.
- Look at what I cooked.
- Look at this room in MY house.
- Look at MY new car.
- Look at MY vacation.
- Look at MY church.
- Look at MY kids.
- Look at MY school.
- Me. My. Mine.
Where is “ours”?
In my devotional this morning, Selwyn Hughes pointed out,
“The first word of the Lord’s Prayer — “Our” (Matthew 6:9) – determines the very nature of the Christian faith… instead of our faith being “our” centered, it would have been “my” centered — and that would have started us off wrong.”
This is very convicting for me. Sharing and having lots of “likes” or “followers” can be very addicting and a drug of sorts. But as one who has gone there and back, it is empty. This life isn’t about me and neither should my social media be. Wow, I’m guilty of this!
Does Social Media have us in its power?
Leroy Eims in Be the Leader You Were Meant to Be writes about his “How to Know Right from Wrong” Principles. One of them is:
“Does it get me in its power?”
He cites 1 Corinthians 6:12 “anything that gets me in its grip that becomes a habit I cannot break – I should leave alone.” He says,
“I will not be mastered by anything.”
If we are so consumed by Instagram or Facebook or TikTok, whether it is consuming or sharing “MY” stuff – then are we hearing from God? Is it mastering us, so we don’t sit and listen to the Master anymore?
Every day, my goal is that I should always spend more time with God than I do on social media.
Do We Ever Hush?
Robert Benson says,
“ I am the only person who knows what God has whispered into my heart but won’t hear him unless I hush.”
Sometimes we need quiet places. Sometimes we need to hush. Lots of times, I need to hush, that is for sure.
Funny. “Be still” in the original Hebrew means “be still.”
How Do We Develop Discernment?
Our pastor at Sherwood Church, Paul Gotthardt, said in a sermon on developing discernment,
“We don’t just stumble into wisdom and discernment; it is faithfully pursued in the pursuit of God and prayer.”
Reflections for Today:
- Let’s think about social media and whether what we share is self-promotion or serving.
- Do we use it, or does it use us?
- I will look at my last dozen posts and see if it edifies the body of believers or is all about Mine and Me. Lord, help me!
- I will see if my posts are serving others or are self-serving. Oh my, am I ready for this? Lord, help me. Help all of us!
- Let’s think about listening to God.
- What is our time with God looking like?
- One part of my own quiet time is fantastic. I have a 365 Bible each year that breaks reading into daily bible readings. This “Every Day with Jesus” Bible also has a devotional emphasis written by Selwyn Hughes with other scriptures to look up and ponder to see what God is saying. Constantly, God is speaking to me through His Word – like this morning when I realized that the word “our” is in the Lord’s prayer and not “me” and “mine.”
- But I’m asking myself today about listening to God. While there are times I grab a pen and paper and write things down to do – sometimes I think my agenda gets in the way. I need to be a better listener. Do you?
Final Thoughts
Our Father!
You and me! Our heavenly Father loves us and wants us to work together.
He wants us to love people together. He wants us to serve others together.
So, as we have that quiet time with Jesus, I pray we also connect with other believers to serve and love together.
He wants us to understand that each of us is (Ephesians 2:10) a precious masterpiece made before time began for good works in Christ Jesus. And He wants us to have the perspective to work together and love one another. For God is love.