Put Your Name On It

For a long time now I have struggled with recognition.  It actually cracks me up when I give it enough time to think on it because it is an extremely bi-polar-ish struggle!  Sometimes when I do not get recognized for something I did or I do not get recognized by the "right" people, I get all petty and whiney about it!  It's so stupid because, if I really think about it, those moments have been the times in which I've operated inconspicuously. For real! Even if someone wanted to give credit for it, they wouldn't even know to whom.  In those moments I feel like I am an angry backstage manager at a famous Broadway play indignant at the fact that I am not being applauded!  Dude! You chose that job! Its a BACK-stage job!  In the back! Anyway, I have struggled with that and I truly believe it has to do with having low self-esteem and the unhealthy desire to strive to be accepted and of being approved by man.  But that's NOT what I am writing about today!  Ha! I guess I preface this post with that example to demonstrate how ridiculous my mind can be at times!  With as much as I want to be recognized in those moments, you would think that I would have no issue at all putting my name on something I conjured, invented or created.  I am floored at the fact that I have day dreams where I envision a song I wrote or a drawing I made being used for something greater and yet thinking to myself, "I will not attribute that work to me, it will be done anonymously."  Now I get it, people do things anonymously all the time, and that is not a bad thing.  Even Jesus said to not let the right hand know what the left hand is doing.  Or to not do things like praying and worshipping for show.  But I am not talking about that.  I am talking about allowing a spirit of fear and inferiority to dictate how I present myself.  That is not the same spirit with which Jesus intended for me to live by when he asked for us, through his word, to do things in private.  Jesus was talking about humility, which is rooted in LOVE.  Not putting your name on, figuratively speaking, something you've created or have worked hard on out of a sense of shame is rooted in FEAR.  And if I remember correctly, God has said that, in Christ,  we do not have a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love and a sound, self-disciplined mind! (2 Timothy 1:7)


It's interesting that when the Apostle Paul wrote that to Timothy, immediately before it, he said, "I remind you to FAN THE FLAMES OF THE SPIRITUAL GIFT God gave you.  I believe Paul was stressing the importance of walking without shame in the calling God gave each of us.  Timothy was called to preach the gospel.  And here he is being encouraged to walk in it without fear or timidity.  Why?  Because when we do, the person to which credit is ultimately being given to is God Himself!! You may not be called to be a pastor, but you are definitely called to preach the gospel.  And maybe your way of preaching the gospel is through song, art, parenting with excellence, business ventures, construction...you name it!  Whatever it is, I really believe God gives us permission to put our name on it because when people see how human we really are and yet something so amazing came from us, there is no way one can mistake who the credit truly goes to...God!


I went to a girls night recently where we were all being creative and crafting things...conversations flowed freely.  Women were openly sharing thoughts, feelings, poems and prophetic words!  Encouragement and love were abounding as we applauded each other.  In that moment I thought, "God, what an amazing church life we would have if we all felt free enough to share how God is using us. Even more amazing if we all recognized that we each had a part in it and did not feel threatened when one of us would shine!"


Kris Vallotton, a Pastor at Bethel Church, said it this way..."when we become everything we were meant to be, it actually GIVES the glory to God."  He is implying that when we create from the place of one of our callings, accepting with pride (the good kind) and joy that we were the vessel God chose in that instant, it doesn't TAKE the Glory from God at all!!!  It attributes all glory to Him who put it there in the first place!  God in the flesh, Jesus himself, said in Matthew 5:16, "Let your good deeds shine for all to see, SO THAT EVERYONE WILL PRAISE YOUR HEAVENLY FATHER!"


What can I say then???  Hold your head up! Yes, you are a child of God used for His purposes! Wear it with pride and accept the praise for the good things you've done or created.  Go ahead! Put your name on it because in reality they are honoring the Jesus in you!!!!  Praise be to God!