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Self-Promotion in God’s
Church?
MP3
Let’s get to the heart of this immediately. There is no room in God’s
church for self-promotion! Self-promotion is one person attempting to
impress another and/or to further his own agenda. It is a quest for
preeminence in the congregation. This ultimately fails on all counts.
Could one gain preeminence with an entire military army by appealing to
its lowest privates and sergeants? This is what a person is doing by
self-promoting himself among humans in God’s Church. This is God’s
Church, created and administered by Him through Christ. Self-promotion
does not work with God. Both Christ and the apostle Paul condemn those
that self-promote themselves.
The act of self-promotion is linked directly to the element of lying in
the church [see Minister’s Notebook on
Lying in the Church]. The Pharisees
continually sought the preeminence and were charged by Jesus as being
hypocrites, which is to say “actors” or liars. In my Bible dictionary,
for the definition of “lie” I read, “…for a life lived under false
pretenses, a hypocritical life.”
One cannot lie about church related elements,
including business, spiritual teachings, doctrines, or administration.
Ananias and Sapphira did and died, losing their salvation. They were
not just lying before men, but before the Holy Spirit and, therefore
God, the Father.
In the "self-promotion" or "self-serving attitude" we are talking about
the church. Therefore, if such a thing were to happen, it is being done
in the presence of the Holy Spirit and Christ, the Head of the Church.
Unlike lying, this would not necessarily put such a person in danger of
the lake of fire [losing one's salvation].
One can offer repentance. When one engages in self-promotion, it is an
absolute given that this person has a poor relationship with God and the
Word of God, which is the mind of that same God. He is looking for
praise from MEN. In a recent Bible study I talked about the difference
between the human and a spirit being, such as God or Christ. I liken
the human to a penny. I liken a spirit being to a Google dollars. That
is the numeral one followed by one million zeros. In fact, I say that,
compared to a penny [the human], a spirit
being is likened to a Google dollars times a Google dollars times a
Google dollars (say that for 3 full days).
THEREFORE, when one engages in self-promotion, he or she is appealing to
the "penny" in the church and denying the spirit beings (God
and Christ) worth googles MORE. Such denial denotes gross
quenching of that relationship.
There is no room for self-promotion in God's Church. The second it is
done, the one doing it is proclaiming he or she lacks relationship with
God. No self-promotion is worth having to face Christ on this charge,
which He would surely bring if not repented of.
The Self-Serving Attitude
The self-serving attitude, which is actually “self promotion”
taken a step further, the individual actually attempts to DISPLACE
normal church activities to do the self-promotion. This might include
one attempting to manipulate events, such as having the local church
change a date or time for his sermon or other such presentation. It
might be an individual canceling one commitment so as to be at another
location or with people that might help him further his personal
agenda. This type of person shows a marked lack of interest or concerns
for other people or their needs.
Promotion of Christ
Every time an outstanding sermon, sermonette or Bible Study is given,
who gets the credit? Our doctrine on the
ministry says God gets the
credit and praise. After all, it was CHRIST in the speaker that
performed the sermon, the sermonette and the Bible study. When the
congregation has a most positive response to a sermon, sermonette or
Bible study, how did THAT happen? Who gets the credit there? The best
sermon in the world is MEANINGLESS if there is not someone with the Holy
Spirit to hear and react (2 Corinthians 2:14).
Therefore, when a congregation has a positive reaction to a sermon or
Bible study and takes action to have the minister back, they are
REACTING TO CHRIST. They are exhibiting excited hunger for the Word of
God. A minister in close relationship to God could hardly take credit
for what he did.
In the case of any good sermon or Bible study, Christ gets the credit
for speaking through the speaker and for inspiring the hearing of the
firstfruits that heard it. Christ must be promoted. We must feed the
flock and we must get real excited when something most effective
happens.
Which one is the counterfeit?
The reality of life in the Body of Christ is that for everything good,
Satan has a negative counterfeit? Some counterfeit money has been so
good as to fool long time experts at the Treasury Department. There is
a fine line of discernment between a self-serving attitude and someone
showing boldness and excitement in and for the Work of God. The
self-promoter is not sensitive to the congregation. The sincere
individual is a servant of the congregation. The self-promoter puts
himself in the light. The true firstfruit gives all praise to Christ
and God, the Father. One is self-centered, the other Christ-centered.
One speaks to his importance and position while the other speaks to the
importance of the whole congregation. The self-promoter relies on his
own talent, while the Christ-promoter puts full reliance in the power of
the Holy Spirit working in and through him. Both stand before the
throne of God. One will produce real lasting fruit and the other will
not. One will have a
slick presentation and the other will humbly let Christ speak for
him. The deceitful works of the self-promoter will increase until he is
fully exposed.
But evil men and
seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. But
continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been
assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a
child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee
wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
–2 Timothy 3:13-15
Your attitude
The question now is how are you going to react to this situation? I had
a communication with a humble, sincere member the other day and he
admitted to me that his knee-jerk reaction tended toward assuming the
negative. That anyone acting in a bold manner was clearly a person full
of himself and a self-promoter. My encouragement to him was to assume
the best until such time as the self-promoter tips his or her hand.
Negative behavior is always exposed in time as shown in the above
scripture. Your admonition is to "continue in the things you have
learned and been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them."
Immerse yourself in the Word of God and you will easily see the
self-promoter from the servant of the Almighty. God has words for those
who attempt to serve both Him and the self…
He that is faithful in
that which is least is faithful also in much: and he that is unjust in
the least is unjust also in much. If therefore ye have not been faithful
in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true
riches? And if ye have not been faithful in that which is another
man's, who shall give you that which is your own? No servant can serve
two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or
else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God
and mammon. And the Pharisees also, who were covetous, heard all these
things: and they derided him. And he said unto them, Ye are they which
justify yourselves before men; but God knoweth your hearts: for that
which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.
– Luke 16:10-15
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