
Have you found joy in your life? I mean, real platformless joy.
Over the years, I have learned that the most significant ministry happens in relative obscurity. Like the small church pastor who has faithfully led fifty members through God’s Word. Or the missionary who has spent sixty years of her life taking the gospel to unreached people group. They find joy in these opportunities God has afforded them.
As we hear these stories, we aren’t envious. We ask questions. Why isn’t the pastor’s church growing? Is she married? What does her family think about her doing this? Their lives are hidden. Undesirable.
The hidden life might not be desirable, but it’s biblical.
The message is counter-cultural. When media portrays the fabulous life day in and day out, you can’t blame people for desiring that kind of lifestyle. Even Christians fall victim to the fabulous life mentality. The Apostle Paul bristles at this idea: “Meanwhile, be content with obscurity, like Christ” (Colossians 3:4 The Message). For Paul, the hidden life was Christ-like.
Christ’s platform sprang from his obscurity and obedience.
Barefoot and Hidden
Take your mind back to the streets of ancient Capernaum, Galilee, and Cana. Barefoot, with one outfit, and walking as his only means of transportation, a carpenter from Nazarene traversed the highways and byways in relative obscurity.
It wasn’t until he began Jesus public ministry that people began to talk about him in the upper echelon of Jewish culture. And even then it was to hear complaints that he spent his time communing with vagabonds, sinners, and prostitutes. Surely anyone who would associate with these people had no aspiration to “make it” in Jerusalem. He was going about it all wrong.
The religious leaders had the right idea. They had arrived. They knew what it took to get ahead, and this Jesus of Nazareth was not going about it the right way. They recognized him, but for the wrong reasons. He was counter-cultural and platform-adverse. Who was this man? They were intrigued.
Yet, with this newfound recognition, he desired to remain hidden, stealing away from the crowds in solitude for days. And that’s the paradox. Christ’s platform sprang from his obscurity and obedience.
The Right Desire
Time and time again I see people who desire a platform more than they crave humility and obscurity. David’s story is helpful here. What happened after David was anointed king of Israel? He was sent right back into the field to resume his duties as a shepherd. Hidden. It wasn’t until years later that he took his place as king. How did God know he was ready? David became a ” man after God’s heart” and not his agenda (Acts 13:22).
The hidden life drives you from a platform mindset to a lifestyle where you remain on your knees. In the hidden life, you desire that God reveals his heart through you.
This is the life that I desire. How about you?