I want to make a difference in the world for the Kingdom of God.
But what, truly, is my motivation? Is it to make His name great? Or is it to make MY name great, to be remembered by men as a great minister of truth to the world? I would like to say it is to make Christ famous, but so often I don’t feel that to be true. I may have preached last week (in Kiikaonde) that the purpose of the Christian in the world is to make God known. To make Christ famous among the nations. But so often I feel this longing to be known myself. It’s almost as though I hope that I will become famous if I make God famous. It’s like my own little version of the prosperity gospel. I work for God; He makes me famous.
But that’s not how it works.
I read Matthew 26 this morning during my devotions. Tucked away in the beginning of this chapter is a story of a woman who takes an expensive bottle of perfume and anoints Jesus’ head with it. She took what she had and used it to honor her Savior. The disciples were upset by this, arguing that she should have sold it and given the profits away (weren’t they just SO holy?). Jesus commended her for her actions, and promised that her deeds would be forever remembered, for this story was to be included with the telling of the gospel.
And it has been.
For about two thousand years, the story of this woman has been included in the gospel according to Matthew (and also in Mark 14 and John 12). But the woman’s name is not included. It is only when we read the parallel account in John that we learn that this woman was Mary, sister of Lazarus and Martha. Only one of three accounts give the name of the person who was to be honored for her faith. Jesus commended her, praising her act of faith. But her name was not recorded. The actions may have been rewarded and remembered, but not with earthly fame for the individual. All earthly fame belongs to Christ. His name is to be glorified. His name is to be made famous. Not ours.
Not mine.
