Most people in this world are striving for significance. They crave recognition, fame and praise. People often speak about wanting to “build a name” for themselves, or “making a mark” or “leaving a legacy.” We think about “great men” who have gone before us and achieved great things in this life, and we desire to be “great” too.
But the Bible teaches us a different way. Philippians 2:5-11 says,
5 Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: 7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: 8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. 9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
This passage tells us to have the same mindset that Jesus had: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.” (v. 5). Then, it tells us what his mindset was. It says that Jesus, even though he had the form of God and was equal with God, “made himself of no reputation.”
The almighty, eternal Son of God who created all things (John 1:3; Heb. 1:2) became human. The Creator became the created. Jesus was born in a stable and laid in a feeding trough. His mother and stepfather had no fame, riches, or power. Until his earthly ministry began, he lived in relative anonymity.
His goal in life was not fame, glory, or wealth. In fact, satan offered these things to him, and he refused. (Matthew 4:8-10). Jesus’ only goal in life was to obey God. He said, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me.” (John 4:34). Philippians 2:8, says he “became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”
Jesus surrendered his reputation to God, and after his obedience, God gave it back to him. It says:
9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name: 10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
By “making himself of no reputation,” Jesus actually allowed the Father to establish and secure his reputation for all eternity! And the reputation the Father has given to Jesus if far greater than any reputation he could have earned on earth by promoting himself or seeking his own agenda. The things of this world, including the fame, glory and adulation of man, are temporary and fleeting. “the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Cor. 4:18)
If we surrender our reputation and seek only to obey God’s will for us every day, we can trust that the Lord will give us a reputation in heaven that is glorious and lasts forever!
In Mark 9, Jesus had been transfigured by God’s glory on the mountain. After that, he casts a demon out of a possessed boy, and afterward, he and the disciples walk back to Capernaum. Along the way, the disciples begin to argue about which of them was the greatest. Jesus asked them what they had been talking about, but the disciples were afraid to tell. The Bible says Jesus responded like this:
35 And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all. 36 And he took a child, and set him in the midst of them: and when he had taken him in his arms, he said unto them, 37 Whosoever shall receive one of such children in my name, receiveth me: and whosoever shall receive me, receiveth not me, but him that sent me.
In Philippians again, Paul tells us “Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves.” (Phil. 2:3). In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told us not to do things “to be seen of men.” He spoke about how the Pharisees would sound trumpets before themselves as they gave alms and would pray out loud in the streets so they could be noticed. He said, “They have their reward.” (Matt. 6:2,5). He warned us too, that if we do our supposedly good works in order to get the approval of others, we will “have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.” Matt. 6:1. Instead, he told us to give our alms in secret, and pray in secret, and promised, “thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.” (Matt. 6:4,6).
God does not measure things the same way man measures things. One day, Jesus and the disciples were sitting at the treasury in the Temple and watching as people came and dropped in their offerings. The rich all came and gave what seemed like large amounts, but then a widow came and gave only two mites. A mite was the smallest coin used during that time. In today’s money, two mites would only be worth 1/8th of one cent!
When Jesus saw her donate two mites, he said in Luke 21:
3 And he said, Of a truth I say unto you, that this poor widow hath cast in more than they all: 4 For all these have of their abundance cast in unto the offerings of God: but she of her penury hath cast in all the living that she had.
Whether the things we do matter or not does not depend on how successful they seem on the outside, but on the heart with which we do them. Even acts that seem great on the outside to men, are meaningless to God if they are done with the wrong motive. In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul said,
1 Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. 2 And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. 3 And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
You could be the greatest speaker the world has ever heard, but if you don’t do it with God’s love, you’re just making noise. You can have miracles, and greater faith than anyone has ever seen, but if you don’t do it with love, your actions “are nothing.” You can be the most generous person ever, and even be burnt at the stake, but if you don’t do it with God’s kind of love, you will have no reward.
Wow! Our heart condition really does matter most.
I don’t know about you, but I would rather have praise from God that will last for all eternity, than the praise and fame of the whole world that will fade into nothing overnight.
Let’s do like Jesus did. Let’s commit our reputations to God. Instead of worrying about “making a name” for ourselves or “leaving a legacy” in this life, let’s focus on doing God’s will in our individual lives. Let’s let Him be responsible for the results, and we stay focused on obedience!
I am confident that if we will “let this mind be in [us] that was in Christ Jesus,” God will exalt our names in heaven beyond what we even could imagine on earth.
