April 20 ~ Luke 14:8-11
When you are invited to a wedding feast, don't sit in the best place. Someone more important may have been invited. Then the one who invited you will come and say, "Give your place to this other guest!" You will be embarrassed and will have to sit in the worst place.
When you are invited to be a guest, go and sit in the worst place. Then the one who invited you may come and say, "My friend, take a better seat!" You will then be honored in front of all the other guests. If you put yourself above others, you will be put down. But if you humble yourself, you will be honored.
Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.
For three years in the late 80’s/early 90’s, I handled publicity for a locally-based company that sold its products internationally. My job was to get the products mentioned in magazines, newspapers, and other media. I also wrote press releases and traveled with company executives and employees to promote their products at markets, parties, and special events. I jetted around the country, dined in fancy restaurants and stayed in posh hotels. In my job, I often functioned in a world completely the opposite of my quiet home life with my husband and two cats on a little farm outside of Heber Springs.
This was before the Internet really came into everyday use, so I spent countless hours on the phone with magazine editors, designers, and other PR people. I became well acquainted with magazine editors from VOGUE, HOME, GOOD HOUSEKEEPING, and dozens more. I met many famous people and even dined with a few.
Are you impressed? Don’t be! These were all ordinary people who happened to be in extraordinary positions. One of the best lessons I learned from this three-year experience was not to be affected by celebrity. It’s not that I became numb to the fame and fortune. I simply realized that when you strip away the fancy clothes, the jets, the money, the cameras and media recognition, each is an ordinary person who probably grew up very much like you and I did. They may still have “regular” home towns and families… and probably plenty of “regular” problems and challenges. We want to define them by their surroundings and “things,” but we are mistaken to do so.
I came to appreciate some of these people as genuine folks who happened to have interesting jobs or lifestyles. Some of them recognized me as a person and not just the means to a good story or photo for their magazine spread. Some I realized were really lonely human beings hiding behind a façade of fame and fortune. Still others were caught up in the hoopla and wanted others to think they were really “special!” Looking back, I see all of these people I met very differently. I wonder, “How did they see me? Did I reflect Jesus to them? Did they think I saw them as real people, or just a means to a mention for my company’s products?”
I pray that we would all take a good hard look at ourselves and see what sort of image we are projecting. Are we the “real deal” – a true, humble servant of Christ who reflects His love and light to others? Or are we hangers-on… wannabes… blinded by the lure of recognition and celebrity? Do we teeter on the brink of embarrassment, should others find out who we really are? Or have we stripped away any layers of phoniness, blind ambition, greed, and self-service, and let Jesus use us for His purposes? The question of the day is, “Where does God see you sitting… and how did you get there?”
©2010 Debbie Robus
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