There’s a fine balance between making known the spiritual gifts we use to serve the Church and self-promotion. This is not just for pastors and prophets. This is a check of our integrity that applies to all of us in every setting of life.
I’ve stopped following some very public voices within the Church, not because they don’t have something to say, but because they are constantly filling my social media accounts selling their goods to me and anyone else who follows their ministry. Their continuing appeal to sell me something sounds like a sales pitch using terms like “flash sale” or “get 30% off today” and so on.
Our gifts are not an industry we need to pump and continually prime to survive and prosper. Many years ago, a mentor in my life, Ron Mehl who pastored the Beaverton Foursquare Church, told a group of us young pastors, “Let God make a way for you.” This message was from a man who pastored thousands of people. At that time in my life, I had less than ten people attending our young church plant. God’s way never sounds like a quick sales pitch clothed in big, garish advertising slogans. Some of God’s most powerful advertisements are announced in a whisper.
Maintaining the fine balance between self-promotion and simply offering our gifts to the Church is a place where our integrity will be checked. The more a gift becomes visible the higher the inducement will be for us not to honor the Lord in this area.
There will be times when an obvious open door stands before us. In that moment, we need to ask the Lord, “Is this from you?” Just because a door of opportunity appears doesn’t mean we should cross its threshold. Some of the Lord’s most advantageous doors are not seen because they are hidden by our pride and our need for notoriety. Each open door requires an inquiry of the Lord.
“And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message” (Colossians 4:3).
Everything is all about God… His Will… and for His Glory… to first love Him with all your heart, with all your mind and with all your strength (Will) and then second, to love others. It is not about self❣️ God gave us His measuring stick for discernment… until you hear directly from the His Spirit. If we are attentive to Him… He will keep us grounded and we will not bend to the ways of the world or even the flesh. (Take with a grain of salt… I am always open to correction.)