We Praise the Shimmery

Jan 8, 2015Find joy today

I looked at my bank statement today and got that weird panicky feeling again. It’s silly, I know. God has this, right? But again, I worry. And then I commit the sin of Facebook, looking at all the shiny people doing all the shiny things–becoming wildly successful, living their best lives on the stage of social media.

And I want to give up.

And I’m so dang tired.

But there’s something deeper than that for me. Something beyond the quitting, the fatigue.

It’s that this crazy world praises the shimmery. It flocks to the flashy. It idolizes its idols. There’s something in us that wants a celebrity to follow Jesus so His cause can become famous.

Except for this: Jesus, the lowly One, the One who left the dazzle of heaven for the dirt of earth, is famous incognito.

He never, ever let a modicum of fame (crowds pressing around Him) to deflect Him from His mission–to notice the unnoticed. To dignify the undignified. To see the unseen. To smile at the smile-less.

Jesus didn’t garner the celebrity juice for Himself. He poured Himself. His purpose wasn’t to preen; it was to serve.

So when I see myself flocking after a guru, I have to stop and re-evaluate. I do that guru no favors by flocking. And I set up a strange economy in my heart that the noticeable folks should be noteworthy.

And it helps me stay obscure, to revel in the background, to go out of my way to find those who are overlooked (because oh how I know what it’s like to feel that way.)

When I stay in this low low place, I remember afresh all there is to be thankful for. That I have food, shelter, clothing. That God takes care of birds and beast. That I don’t have to “become all that” to be successful in His economy.

When we walk on the shores of the hereafter, friends, we will finally understand this. That the economy of heaven has little to do with the shimmery or the gold coins we possess. It has everything to do with walking as Jesus did, finding people to love who the world shuns, doing the dirty work of love in the trenches of life–far, far away from limelight or fashion.

 

0 Comments