Luke 14:10-11
“When you’re invited to dinner, go and sit at the last place. Then when the host comes he may very well say, ‘Friend, come up to the front.’ That will give the dinner guests something to talk about! What I’m saying is, If you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face. But if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.”
Scripture quotations from The Message. © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO. All rights reserved.
My lifelong friend, Adam Little, is a video editor in Nashville… a very good video editor whose work has won numerous awards. He posted on Facebook today that two of his videos are up for CMA awards... Miranda Lambert’s "Mama's Broken Heart" and Blake Shelton's "Boys Round Here". He noted that “both were directed by the talented Trey Fanjoy.” Now here’s the deal… most of you have heard of Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton. But I bet a lot of you had no clue who Adam Little and Trey Fanjoy were a few minutes ago! Yet, without a good director… and a very good video editor, the work of these famous performers might go fairly unrecognized. I can assure you that the advent of video and the Internet opened up a whole new world for entertainers in all genres… particularly music. Now, artists can put their work on YouTube and send it out through other mass media venues. They can now reach an audience of millions in minutes. This used to take months and years as the singers drove from radio station to station and peddled their latest recording.
Still, Lambert and Shelton will take home the glory at the CMAs while Adam and Trey simply smile and “do what they do”, so to speak. And I am not here to imply that Miranda Lambert and Blake Shelton walk around with their noses in the air. I don’t know either of them… they very well may be humble, truly nice people. But I know that they will take the accolades and the credit – and thank a few people if they win (hopefully including Adam and Trey!)… and they will continue to be the people everyone talks about. It is my hope that in some format, the artists will give Adam and Trey and others who worked on their projects due recognition. I trust that they will find a way to essentially say to them, “Friend, come up to the front!” But I know Adam… he will be fine either way, because he is content to simply be himself. And that makes him more famous in my book than a thousand Blake Sheltons or Miranda Lamberts!
What about you? Do you seek the limelight? Do you crave recognition for your accomplishments and good deeds? Have you ever asked someone, “Do you have any idea who you are dealing with… do you know who I am?” Even if you didn’t say these words out loud… have you ever given someone else this impression? Do you aspire to hang out with “the rich and famous”? Is it your goal to become one of them?
I know people who think they are “all that and a bag of chips”… and people who truly are all that – and could care less who knew it! And I will tell you that those in the latter category truly have it going on… with other people – and with God! You’re not fooling anyone when you put on airs. It may seem as if people flock to you and want to be around you – or to be you! But in truth, an attitude of arrogance and/or superiority only appears to take one places. True humility and respect for others, regardless of their station or accomplishments – or yours, is what counts.
God will bless those who are simply themselves… the ones who quietly go about their work and move behind the scenes… the “video editors and directors” of life. Are you one of them? Don’t you think you should be?
©2013 Debbie Robus
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