Woe to those who crave fame: Do we possess the strength to be nothing?  (continued)

It's a challenging day for those with God-given dreams and strengths. 

On the one hand we're encouraged to package our giftings in neon and market ourselves, to knock on doors and make our own way...

On the other hand we open our Bibles and hear wisdom from the ancients, "Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; someone else, and not your own lips." (proverbs 27.2)

Passivity seems a poor steward. Self-promotion a saboteur of souls.

John the Baptist shows us a way.

He submitted to hiddenness for decades, and when the time came for him to step into public service, he emerged from hiddenness with the strength to fuse authoritative visibility with Jesus-centric humility. 

Safeguarding his powerful public presence was a deep inner commitment: "He must become greater, and I must become less." (john 3.30) Less had become more for John.

Surely countless temptations tried John's mind and spirit. But most strategies of darkness lose their power in the presence of a soul that has this strength to be nothing.