Hidden

 "For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God." Colossians 3:3...."There is a place of holiness in the seemingly insignificant." Jenny Papapostolou

Recently I listened to a young woman named Jenny Papapostolou speak about a book she'd written titled "Sacred Smallness." It was about her journey through a ministry that went almost totally unnoticed by those around her. The significance in this is that she was the granddaughter of two very famous and visible Christian workers. Two people celebrated and admired in Christian circles. She grew up in that atmosphere, and upon her entering into what she felt He was calling her to, she admitted thinking that the renown that they enjoyed would be enjoyed by her as well. It was not. She admitted that when she had attended a conference, no one there knew who she was, and how deeply this had cut into and exposed her pride. In that place of "hiddenness," she began to discover her "place of holiness."

As I listened to her, I jotted down in my prayer journal, "What does it really mean to be "hidden in Christ?" I think when most of us answer that we focus on our safety in Him, about how the enemy cannot really harm us there, but I think it means so much more than that. I think that for some, being hidden in Christ means that they are unseen by everyone but those few to whom they have been sent. They are anonymous laborers for Christ. They go about ministering in desperate situations, far from the spotlight, given no recognition, and that is enough. It is enough because they have been freed from the lust for success, applause, and a pedestal. They are Kingdom footwashers, and I think they are His choicest people. I think in them, He finds His greatest pleasure.

As I listened to this young sister go on, she told of the ministry she felt he had called her to in Greece. A ministry to unwanted and unloved orphans that were found everywhere there. There was no glamor in it. It was not experiencing explosive growth or drawing the attention of Christian media. She was simply touching and changing young lives through Jesus Christ, and doing it one life at a time. Then she said something that both blessed and pierced my heart. She said, "Your life (ministry) doesn't have to be big to be beautiful in the Lord." She had found that beauty in Him, and with it deep contentment and fulfillment. Why is that so hard for us who call ourselves His servants? Why do we need the affirmation of what the world calls success in order to "feel" such fulfillment? Why, if He should place us somewhere that we're "hidden" from the eyes, applause, and recognition of others, that more often than not, we feel resentment, and determine to find a way out. To find a better, broader, and more rewarding "ministry opportunity?" Why do we hunger for the pedestal, and shun the towel and bowl of the footwasher? Why can't we believe there is Kingdom greatness in the hidden place and life? Why have we never experienced that there is a place of holiness in the insignificant place?

That brings me back to my original question. What does it mean to be hidden in Christ? Does our answer contain anything of which I've written, and this young woman has lived? If we are ministers of the Kingdom, we talk a great deal about our calling. Usually, we feel we have a calling to some great thing or work. Greatness. Bigness. These are key ideas. Jenny Papapostolou said this about "the call of God." She said that our primary calling is "to say 'Yes' to God." Yes, to wherever He calls us to and places us. Even in the hidden place, where no one knows us or where we are but Him. Would you go there? Would I? Or do we seek the pedestal?

Blessings,

Pastor O