“Enjoy being unknown and regarded as nothing” –Thomas Kempis
To start, there are two questions.
1. What does that mean? 2. Why in the world would I want to be unknown?
Well the answer to both of those questions arrives in one action; to imitate Christ. Becoming small is contradictory to everything that the world deems as worthy. Society tells us to climb the ladder of success, to make a name for ourselves, and to be as big as possible (in popularity, not the waist line). A vicious cycle of competition and selfish motives overtakes the average person on a daily basis, so why would anyone try to suggest that we need to deflate our egos? I’ll tell you why; it’s in scripture. Hebrews 5:6 says, “Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.” For a more practical application, Luke 22:26 tells us, “But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one who rules like the one who serves.”
You see, serving is all about becoming small, being unknown, and humbling ourselves. In the same way, when we slip to the background, we allow God to step forward and take all the credit. He deserves the glory; however, with our pride-driven actions and “me me me” mentalities, we end up pushing God into the background. And then what happens? Our mighty success fades, the name we made for ourselves dims, and God is still standing there waiting for us to allow him to step into his rightful place, the foreground.
Ultimately, when we make ourselves unknown and nothing we are at our happiest. This happens because this is the only time we can fully enjoy the love and grace of Christ. When we give of ourselves expecting nothing in return, when we step back out of the spotlight, we can see all the many works of the Lord that are taking place around us.
I encourage you to do as Kempis says and just see how much God works in and through you as you are “being unknown and regarded as nothing.”
