Imagine for a second a world without TV commercials. No YouTube or Facebook ads. No fast-food coupons in your mailbox that you always forget to use. No being invited to like the social media page of this clothing boutique, weight-loss program, or life-changing skincare product. NO PROMOTION OF ANY THING!!
Sounds like heaven doesn’t it? And all God’s people said—Amen!
I mean, who needs those commercials? Who really needs the next all-natural skin care product that promises to be more natural than their last all-natural formula? Which parent really wants to tell their kids “no” a million times as Christmas toys are advertised around the clock while Mickey Mouse just keeps grinning at you because he can see your money coming his way?
WHO NEEDS OR WANTS PROMOTION… not us right?
And all God’s people said—Amen!
For who does someone have to think they are to spend the time to create something and then constantly harass someone else to watch it, buy it, or take part in it? (Ever had this thought? —I have.) Many of us have been taught from a young age in Sunday school that pride comes from the devil so we don’t ever want to appear like we are encouraging or taking part in promotion of any sort, especially self-promotion. THAT WOULD BE LIKE BEING AN ACCESSORY TO A CRIME (i.e. sin)!
And all God’s people said—Amen!
But, then again, if God is a Creator and we were created in His image, is it possible that we might want to create something as well? Jesus was a carpenter (Mark 6:3), Lydia was “a seller of purple” (Acts 16:14), and even the “virtuous woman” of Proverbs 31 “maketh fine linen, and selleth it.” How would the woman have known her linen was considered “fine” had she not gone public with the creations of her hands and was at least willing to hear and receive the feedback of those who purchased it? If the Apostle Paul was a tentmaker (Acts 18:3) to help fund his ministry, don’t you think he had to promote, mention, and even be willing to tell people of his craft?
And here’s where the dilemma comes for us Christians—we seek to stay humble while, at the same time, we desire to create things according to the giftings God has given each of us. We create things primarily for the glory of God but also for the encouragement and admonishment of His church. But how can people know about that which we have created for God’s glory and their encouragement without putting it out there for them to see?
This has been the biggest dilemma within our hearts in creating The Middlings blog. Our goal has never been to reach the masses but to encourage the individuals who take the time to read it. But how will you read it if you have never heard about it? And how will you hear about it without it seeming like self-promotion? IT. REALLY. IS. AWKWARD.
Will individuals see our blog shares on our personal page and think we are gloating? Will they see our posts and think we are trying to attract a crowd, become an “influencer”, or achieve some level of popularity? These are new questions that Ben and I have both faced over the last month following the creation of this blog.
Yet within this awkward stage, God gave us this question in return that we now pose to you—would He ever give a desire to someone He wanted them to keep secret for their entire life?
“Delight thyself also in the LORD; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.”
Psalm 37:4
According to this verse our job as Christians is to diligently delight in God more than anything this world can offer. God in return promises us the desires of our hearts. Why? Not because we held to “our end of the bargain,” but because if we delight in Him above all else, His desires will then become ours.
For Ben and I, although we are very different people, we know God has given each of us a desire to write, a heart for His church, and words in our heads that we think might benefit those who read them. In your case, He may have put a song on your lips, a needle and thread in your hands, an ability to jump, catch, and throw, or maybe a mind that understands the ins-and-outs of technology while the rest of us keep endlessly restarting the computer hoping for a different outcome.
The realization of this God-given desire is there but then the moment of acting upon or even promoting (gasp!) this desire is now upon you! What do you do with those nervous, sweaty hands that come at the point when you are about to move forward with it? Do you continue moving forward or walk away from the desire because of the awkwardness of it all?
If we can encourage you with one thing it would be this—embrace the awkwardness—not of self-promotion but the promotion of God’s desire He has placed on your heart and run with it. (Just not with the actual needle if that was yours referenced above.)
Like a middle-schooler with a new set of braces we felt awkward when we encouraged YOU to read our blog.We have awkwardly encouraged YOU to join the discussions. And we have awkwardly welcomed YOU to Middlings…but no longer as just a reader but as someone who, maybe like us, finds yourself as a Christian in the middle of this awkward stage of self, better yet, God-desire promotion.
From this point on, may we confidently move forward in this stage together with this verse as our guide:
“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.”
1 Corinthians 10:31
And all of us as God’s people said—
Thanks for this. As a 56 year old artist who has a "real" job, I find myself at a crossroads in moving forward with my desire to create. Good stuff and I will be following this, for sure.
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