The glory of going unrecognized

“Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you, not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. And when the chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the unfading crown of glory. Likewise, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” 1 Peter 5:2–5

So many young men and women go into ministry imagining being on the stage, receiving tons of “thank you’s” for all the great things they are doing “for the Lord.” This was me.

Going off stage

When Jesus first called me to go into ministry, I was a 16-year-old student who had a lot of “interesting” ideas of what ministry would actually be like. Early on in ministry, I lived for the affirmation I received from people. Whether I was speaking or leading worship in front of a crowd, the topic may have been about Jesus, but in my heart it was all about me.

It took Jesus moving me off of the stage, to doing ministry from the sidelines and in various supporting roles to pastors to break this idol in my heart. Ministry idolatry is a real struggle that those serving in ministry will face, and an idol that everybody who has a leadership role in the church needs to repent of.

Too often Christians forget that the most important ministry in the church happens off stage, where there will be no recognition. Every week, hundreds of faithful servants minister in the church, and help the church move forward, by God’s grace. The key for servants in the church is to rejoice that all glory and honor belongs to Jesus Christ alone.

The Apostle Peter in his first letter gave clear instructions to those in ministry, to not serve for their own glory, but to instead be willing to serve without recognition.

1. Serve not for shameful gain (v. 2)

A temptation in doing ministry is to build your own platform. You desire to serve Jesus, but you get tripped up by Satan into serving yourself. In Matthew 4:1–11, Jesus was tempted in the desert by Satan and instead of yielding to selfish gain, Jesus kept his eyes on the mission God the Father gave him, and did not give in to shameful gain for himself. In doing so, Jesus was faithful to God in the ways the Israelites had failed in their desert wanderings. Additionally, Mark 10:45 makes it clear that Jesus Christ came not to be served, but to give his life as a ransom for many. By contrast, none of us has served as selflessly or sacrificially as Jesus.

As the Holy Spirit examines our hearts and motives as we serve, we often see our mixed motives. We want the pastor to notice us, and thank us. We use ministry as a platform to showcase our talents and abilities. While Jesus has given all Christian’s spiritual gifts and natural talents, we are to use them to worship him, and not seek shameful gain for ourselves.

2. Serve out of your identity in Christ

At Mars Hill we talk a lot about our identity in Christ. When we are living out of whatever identity the world (or even the people in the church) give us, we are setting ourselves up for idolatry and the unavoidable emptiness that comes with it.

Pastor Mark writes about this in Who Do You Think You Are?:

The truth [is] that no matter how famous or rich we become, we all want to be appreciated—and the feelings that come from feeling unappreciated can be devastating, crippling us and crushing our desire to move forward. When we feel this way, we’re faced with a choice. Do we believe what the world says about us? Or do we believe what God says about us? What we choose to believe can change the trajectory of our lives in dramatic ways.

Too often, those doing the work of the ministry will see others getting more recognition for how they are serving, and be discouraged and feel unappreciated, or feel jealous of the attention. This can start a negative cycle of doing ministry out of performance and competition.

“For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name in serving the saints, as you still do.” Hebrews 6:10

As a servant in the church, it’s been crucial for me to know that I am appreciated by Jesus Christ. When I rest in that fact, when I serve him and his church, my inclination to grumble and compete with others goes down, and I instead find myself celebrating others’ successes. (That said, there’s still a lot God is working out in me in this, naturally.)

But as we live out of our identities in Christ and understand that we are appreciated by Jesus, we can rejoice in others’ recognition and stop being bitter towards any un-recognition we perceive, and instead be thankful that Jesus is using us. We stop boasting about ourselves and start encouraging others—and, ultimately, we stop performing and start serving.

3. Submit yourself to the elders in the church (v. 5)

Often young men in particular can be prone to being headstrong and resisting leadership. We think we know everything, and if given the chance, we would do things much different. Yet Jesus opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

“But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, ‘God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.’ Submit yourselves therefore to God. . . . Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.” James 4:6–7, 10

4. Resist the devil (vv. 8–10)

Serving in ministry is completely contrary to Satan’s plan for your life. You need to know you will be opposed every day. Traps will be set for you to stumble and sin. The moment you let your guard down, you will be assaulted. The amazing part is that Jesus does not leave us with our backs unguarded, but himself steps in to uphold us.

“And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” 1 Peter 5:10

5. Proclaim Jesus’ kingdom, not your own

You don’t have to go into ministry to make it about you. Instead, in Christ, you can do everything to make Jesus’ name famous. Whatever you build will fade away, as only Jesus’ kingdom is eternal, and he’s already building it. All we need to do is be heralds of that news.

“To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Peter 5:11

Serving practically

It took Jesus moving me from doing ministry on stage, to serving in supporting ministry roles supporting to show me how ugly my pride in wanting to get all the credit was (is), and how much better it is to enjoy seeing what Jesus is up to. Both as a chaplain’s assistant in the U.S. Army and as a deacon here at Mars Hill, every single thing I have done in ministry has been behind the scenes, and I’ve seen people have their lives changed by Jesus. It’s incredible.

Here are a few practical steps I’ve taken from Pastor Mark that have helped me learn more about how to serve well by the grace of God without recognition:

As you serve, remember you are not here to do your thing, but to assist the leaders you serve.
Work hard in the church to enable the pastors to work on the church.
Be humble and willing to do whatever is needed.
Love Jesus and the church more than yourself.

If we’re honest, none of us nails this. We all have some growing to do. But when we fall short and make it about ourselves instead of Jesus, we can repent, receive forgiveness and know that it’s much better to make the name of Jesus great—and so much more freeing to have it not be about us!