Altars over Stages: Keep Influence Submitted to Christ
Influence is useful when it serves Christ. Learn from John the Baptist, receive correction, and keep your whole life offered to the Lord.
#336 — Altars over Stages
Aug 19, 2024
Play the original Excel Still More episode here without leaving the article.
What is the attention for?
Sometimes people need to hear us for good work to happen. A teacher explains, a leader gives direction, and a Christian hopes the gospel will receive a fair hearing. Visibility itself isn't the enemy of faithfulness. The danger lies in allowing the opportunity to become a claim that we must remain important, admired, or indispensable.
A stage can picture attention; an altar can picture offering ourselves to God. The question is whether the attention remains under Christ's authority. Josiah Queen's song Altars over Stages prompted this reflection. The song gives us an occasion to think; Scripture teaches us what faithful humility and service require.
Know whose work you're serving
In John 3:22–30, people tell John the Baptist that others are going to Jesus. John doesn't turn the report into a contest for the audience. He explained that he was not the Christ and had been sent before Him. The bridegroom's friend rejoices in the bridegroom's voice. John's joy was fulfilled because the work pointed where it was always supposed to point.
John understood what his work was for. Jesus becoming more prominent meant the purpose was being fulfilled, rather than taken away. John 1:19–27 had already recorded his refusal to claim an identity that did not belong to him. He was willing to be useful without becoming ultimate. His example confronts the assumption that less attention must mean less value. The passage doesn't say that every one of John's disciples immediately left him, and we need not add that detail to appreciate his response. What it records is enough: he received news of Jesus' growing work with joy and recognized the proper relationship between his own ministry and the One he proclaimed.
Offer the life behind the message
Romans 12:1–2 calls us to present our bodies as a living sacrifice and be renewed in mind. That's the offering of a whole life to God. We're speaking about personal surrender to the Lord.
Submission needs to reach the life behind the microphone or classroom. What we do at home and when nobody watches matters as much as the message people hear. A religious message can't compensate for a life organized around self-promotion. Ask whether your private choices serve the same Lord your public words name. The most necessary offering may be an attitude you have carefully hidden beneath apparently helpful work. Ask whether the people who know you privately would recognize the character your public work presents. If the answer is uncomfortable, give attention to the neglected conduct before seeking more visibility. A needed apology at home may matter more than another invitation to speak. Public usefulness should never become a reason the closest people must quietly accept careless treatment.
Use influence without needing it
You can receive influence gratefully and use it well. Humility doesn't require abandoning every responsibility that makes you visible. The useful test is whether you can carry out the task honestly, make room for others, and accept limits on your authority. Does the role equip people to understand and obey Christ, or make them increasingly dependent on your personality?
Matthew 6:1–4 warns against doing righteous things in order to win praise. Jesus is helping us examine what we're seeking through the act. Teaching a public lesson and performing a private act of service both need truthful motives. A person can seek admiration through quiet self-display as well as open prominence. Humility isn't a particular level of visibility; it's a willingness to serve under God's authority.
Listen before dismissing criticism
Criticism isn't always fair, but it isn't always jealousy either. Dismissing a concern by guessing at someone's heart can keep us from hearing something necessary. That explanation may protect our feelings, but it also places a judgment about another person's heart where careful consideration should be. We rarely possess enough information to know why every person objects.
Ask what the criticism actually shows. There may be a factual mistake, a biblical concern, or a neglected duty that deserves attention. Receive useful correction even when its delivery was imperfect. If an accusation is false, answer responsibly without returning contempt. Trusted friends can help distinguish a necessary adjustment from a demand you shouldn't accept. Their value isn't that they always defend you, but that they care more about faithfulness than preserving your reputation. Ask a critic for a concrete example when the concern is unclear. Then compare the example with the relevant facts and passage, not merely with how strongly you feel accused. If correction is warranted, say so plainly and explain the adjustment. That response can turn an uncomfortable exchange into protection for the people your work serves. Keep at least one relationship in which honest questions are welcome before a problem becomes public. Tell the person which responsibilities you're trying to protect and invite them to notice when the work is crowding those out. Then receive their observation with the attention you asked for. Accountability becomes useful through that actual response, rather than the claim that somebody is allowed to speak.
Be willing to change the role
Some roles need a correction or a clearer limit. Others may need to be handed over because continuing would neglect responsibilities that come first. A person may be neglecting family duties, overstating expertise, or continuing work whose demands exceed their capacity. Giving up an opportunity can then be a faithful decision rather than a humiliation.
Think carefully before stepping aside, too. The people relying on you deserve a responsible transition where that's possible. Likewise, don't interpret every loss of influence as proof that God removed a blessing because of pride. We don't know all the reasons circumstances change. What we can know is how Scripture directs us to act in the situation that now exists: truthfully, humbly, and with concern for others.
Remember that grace isn't wages
We don't earn eternal life by collecting sacrifices and surrendered opportunities. Salvation rests in Christ and his grace. Faithful obedience matters because we belong under His authority, not because we can make Him indebted to our impressive record.
Philippians 2:3–8 places Christ's humility before us and calls us away from selfish ambition. Even stepping aside can become a way of seeking admiration if we stop watching our hearts. We can become proud of how little recognition we appear to seek. The cure is continuing attention to Christ and to the real good of the people our conduct affects, rather than constantly measuring our own humility.
Choose faithfulness before the opportunity
Before you seek another opportunity, think about what faithfulness would require inside it. Ask which duties need protection and who will have room to correct you. Who can correct you? How will you make room for others? What would indicate that the role needs to change? Answering those questions early can help prevent attention from quietly setting the terms.
Matthew 6:24 warns that competing masters can't both have our allegiance. Influence must remain a servant of Christ rather than become our master. John the Baptist shows the freedom of knowing that the Lord's work is larger than one's own prominence. You can speak when speech is useful, work quietly when quiet work is needed, and step aside when someone else should lead. Keep the offering of your life first, and let every stage remain a place of service. Review those questions after an opportunity has been in place for a while. Attention can change expectations gradually, and what began as useful work can become difficult to question. Invite someone trustworthy to examine the effect on your duties and relationships. Willingness to review the role helps keep influence accountable to the purpose it was meant to serve.
Take the idea with you.
- 01What do I most want attention to accomplish?
- 02Who has room to correct me when my work or motives need attention?
Prefer listening?
The original episode player is available near the top of this article, so you can listen without leaving the page.
