I have a confession to make – when I was a teenager, I was a graffiti-ist.
Not a graffiti artist, because what I did wasn’t art.
On any surface I could find – school walls, railway stations, shops, bus shelters, fences – I would scrawl my nick-name. Sort of like old-fashioned ‘tagging’.
Now as a middle-aged man, with teenage sons, I cringe in shame and embarrassment when I think of this immature boy skulking around with a black texta concealed in my pocket, looking for the next place to record my name.
As I reflect and look back, I ask myself why I did it. What was my motivation? And I guess it was really a pretty poor attempt to be known, to have my name recognised, to seek notoriety, to achieve some local peer fame.
Alas, some of these desires can tend to linger on in life despite subsequent maturity. If I’m not careful, I can still find myself seeking to be recognised, to be admired, to have a degree of fame.
I think there’s a bit of that in all of us, if we’re honest. It is really tough to be truly humble, to do everything we do anonymously. We tend to have within us a desire to seek recognition and congratulations and admiration. Social media forums, such as Facebook and Twitter, make it easier to broadcast about ourselves, and can be traps for the person seeking after humility. (I have to question myself sometimes – why write these articles? Is it for recognition or to genuinely help others on the journey?)
One guy got it right though – Jesus was as humble as you could get. On many occasions he warned those who were on the receiving end of his miracles not to tell anyone. Jesus never sought power, never sought fame, never even sought recognition. He didn’t try to take over politically, religiously or culturally. When he rode into Jerusalem, he chose a donkey. What a sight that must have been! Jesus wasn’t after fanfare or prestige.
For those of us convinced Jesus was the Son of God, this is even more incredible. That one with such power and authority would humble himself to come to the earth to live amongst the people. To be born to poor parents, in a stable, in an animal’s food trough. From birth to death, Jesus was Mr. Humble.
And the Bible contains a promise that those who follow Jesus as the Lord of their lives will receive God’s Spirit, which will help make them more and more like Jesus. This includes the eradication of self-seeking, and an ever-increasing desire to do good deeds anonymously, to show kindness and compassion anonymously, to move quietly through life without seeking to put our names up in lights.
Or on walls, or fences.
It feels good when we’ve done something noteworthy - that no one else needs to know about.
As a boy, I wanted to be known far and wide, and to see my name appear everywhere. Now, as a Jesus follower, there’s only once place I want to see my name – and that’s in the Book of Life, hopefully waiting for me when I check into Heaven!
www.salvationarmy.org.au/mornington
