“My Name is Nobody” is the paradoxical title of a somewhat famous Spaghetti Western, and sober fact of life for most folk like you and me. We live mundane lives outside the spotlight and beyond the roar of the crowd.
Enduring another children’s reenactment of the Christmas story in church the other day, I had a sudden epiphany. The obvious amateur nature of the presentation served to underscore the embarrassing simplicity of the original Christmas story.
God wanted it that way.
God has a thing about humility. I’ll spare you rehearsal of Nativity details; suffice to recap a recurrent theme about Jesus. He was born in obscurity, ministered in humility, and died in ignominy. From this world’s viewpoint, He didn’t amount to much.
God wanted it that way.
We tend to view modern ministry often through this world’s eyes and seldom through Divine lens. Dynamic churches boasting bigger budgets, prodigious programs, exponential staff, state of the art media, celebrity leaders, and sprawling campuses impress. Bethlehem pales in comparison, huh?
Be reminded this Christmas season what the Word says in I Corinthians 1, “God has chosen the foolish to shame the wise, the weak to shame the strong, the things that are not to shame the things that are”. Elijah did not meet God in the strong wind, fierce earthquake, or raging fire, but in a still small voice. Shepherds found the Savior not robed in splendor but wrapped in basically a burlap bag.
God wanted it that way.
God is not easily impressed. Hence, to the renowned in the religious scene; keep it simple. To the simple; keep it pure. To the pure; keep it humble.
God wants it that way.