"The meek man cares not at all who is greater than he, for he has long ago decided that the esteem of the world is not worth his effort." ~A.W. Tozer
"Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for my sake will save it." ~Luke 9:23-24
Christianity -- real, hardcore, discipleship Christianity -- is not for the faint of heart. We are called to die daily; to take up our crosses; and follow hard after a worthy Christ. No wonder Jesus' message wasn't all that popular.
So many times, the same people who beautifully want to be blessings have, hidden in the back of their minds, a desire to be recognized. We are content with suffering for Christ's sake, content with putting our own needs aside to meet the needs of others, and with "forsaking all" as long as we are commended by the world. We say, "Oh, look at me! I'm so selfless!" And then we are slightly offended when no one comments on and compliments that "selflessness."
I can't imagine that Jesus is okay with that. I'm not saying that when people thank or compliment us we should shudder and run away, exclaiming, "No! I'm not worthy! Look not upon me!" I'm saying we should live with absolutely no expectation of ever being thanked. We should die daily, waste our lives, spend ourselves, and never expect to be noticed. Thanks should be superfluous; appreciated, met with a gracious smile, but never expected or needed.
We have been given so much. Do you realize that? The "poor" in our country are, for the most part, far richer than the destitute halfway around the world. We are free to worship our beautiful God, while others must live in fear of rejection or even punishment if they are discovered to worship the Almighty. Not only do we have the Bible in our own language, we have over four hundred and fifty versions -- while millions of people have not even a single word of God's love letter to them in their own language.
And yet a large percentage of American teenagers declare that their primary ambition in life is to be famous. Jesus' blood is sufficient to save the entire world; and yet "how can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can anyone preach unless they are sent?" And how can we be sent unless we are willing to be forgotten; to be temporarily insignificant so that even one soul may be eternally snatched back from hell?
In order to live a life of eternal significance, we must be willing to live for the forgotten, and be forgotten. The forgotten may not be halfway around the world for you; they may be as close your own neighborhood, but they're there. And though in a dozen years they may forget your name, they will never forget the Savior you're willing to sacrifice to introduce them to.
"Wasting" our lives does not sound entirely attractive, I know. But Jesus declares that whatever we do for the least of these He places in our lives, we do for Him. When we serve those the world has deemed unimportant, we are the closest we shall ever be to seeing the face of God this side of heaven. By ignoring the world's applause, we are more in tune to the applause of heaven -- applause that is much sweeter and that lasts.
"A servant of God has but one Master. It ill becomes the servant to seek to be rich, and great, and honored in that world where his Lord was poor, and mean, and despised." ~George Mueller
