We all want to progress in life. We want our lives to improve. We don’t want to remain at the same place forever, or retrogress. Today’s world has made things worse. People are able to recognize quickly those who are making progress and praise them in various forms. The result is that we are all looking for various ways of progressing in life. But there are good ways of making it in life; there are equally bad ways of doing it.
But we must realize that the Bible says that there is a way that seems right to a man; but at the end of that road is destruction. We must not look for promotion at all cost. An old French philosopher once said that in looking for progress, men risk falling below the level of the beast. In the same way, when we try to look for promotion at all cost, we will end up falling into disgrace. The right promotion comes from God.
Wrong Ways of Seeking Promotion
The texts we have before us today (Jer 2: 4 – 13, Heb 13: 1 – 8, Luke 14: 7 – 14) all talk about promotion in various ways: the wrong ways of seeking promotion and the right way (the Godly way). In fact the wrong ways of seeking promotion can be summarize into two words, that is Self Promotion. Self promotion manifests itself in various forms.
Refusing God
In Jeremiah 2, God spoke to his nation Israel, his own Holy Church. He says they have turned away from him despite the many good things he has done for them. They have turned away from the counsel of the Lord and have turned to idols. And God lamented about the priests who were supposed to bring the people close to him. They rather set the bad example for the people to follow. God went on to even wonder why people who don’t know him are very faithful to their gods which are no gods. Yet his people are very quick in turning away.
The House of Israel turned away from God for one reason: they want their lives to be better. They look at the prosperity of the other nations around them and they conclude that it is their gods who are making them prosper. Then, they started sacrificing to these gods.
The same thing is true about us Christians today. We turn away from God in order to adopt the solutions that the world is providing to its people. The Church which should be the voice of righteousness has now been totally commercialized. Everything about the church is about money. Success in the Church is being measured in terms of financial achievements. A successful pastor/Christian is one who rides in the latest car, has a big house, etc.
Heb 13: is warning us of the evils that too much focus on money brings about. The over commercialization of the church is causing us to lose focus on morality. We are accepting all kinds of behaviours into the church because the church cannot afford to lose the money that comes along with those behaviours.
For this reason people are using occult powers to and covering it with the Bible. Some gospel singers went to see spiritualists to make their albums sell. And when someone says he had the list of people who went to that spiritualist and was ready to publish it, they were calling to beg that their names should not be mentioned.
God warned his people that they will be disappointed when they ignore him. In the end they become captives of the pagan nations. In the same way Christians who ignore God and his word in their search for promotion will be disappointed. They will become captives of demons.
People are selling their bodies in fornication and adultery just because they want promotion. Hebrews 13: 4 talks about the sanctity of marriage. Yet some women even destroy their marriages before they start it. Just because they think they will not get any husband if they don’t commit fornication. Young men are being enticed into sexual affairs with certain women, just because of what they stand to benefit from those relationships. The end of such acts is trouble and destruction, shame and pain.
Another manner in which people self-promote was criticised by Jesus himself. Seeking position and recognition at all cost. When there is a seat of honour, people crumble for it. Honour should be given to the one who deserves it, not the one who usurps it.
One thing about Jesus is that he makes no excuses when it comes to saying the truth. He saw how the Pharisees were struggling for position at the party and told them the shame that awaits them when they are told they don’t deserve the honour. It is better to be elevated a step higher than to be abased a step lower. If you humble yourself, God will lift you up.
The next way people seek to promote themselves is by associating themselves with influential people. The one who organized the party invited only the influential people so that they will be seen to be great. When they know they have something to gain from you, they come to you, they send you invitations, and they attend your parties and funerals and want everyone to know that they are your friend. When they find out that they have nothing more to gain from you, they leave you for where they will get what they want.
When you have power, your house is full; once you are out of power your house is deserted. You are lonely. Jesus condemns that behaviour which is now very common in our society, the church is no exception. That is hypocrisy in the eyes of God. God will not bless you. Promotion comes from God, not from those you associate yourself with.
The Right Way
God first
Seek first the Kingdom of God and all other things will be added. To be promoted by God, you must place yourself right in the spirit and not physically. David was in the bush, but his promotion looked for him. This is because he was a man after the heart of God. No matter where you are, when the time for your upliftment comes, it will come to you. Joseph was down there in the maximum security prison of Egypt, yet when the time for his promotion came, the doors opened. Provided you put God first.
Do Good to all especially those you don’t know.
Not the wealthy who will pay you back in expected ways, but to those who will cause the favour of God to descend on you. You must be able to say the Lord is my helper. When you rely on people they will claim one day that they made you whom you are. Abraham rejected all offers from the King of Sodom because he knows God who called him was able to make him rich. The King of Sodom should not say that he made Abraham rich.
Say no to some offers
We must learn to reject some offers from doubtful sources. Joseph rejected the offer from Portiphar’s wife. That sent him to prison, but he came out a King. As it was in the days of Abraham, so shall it be with you. Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday, today and forever.
Sometimes when Satan realizes that God is about to bless you, he comes out with a counterfeit. You take that offer and you miss God’s blessing.
Wait for the Lord
When things get bad don’t worry. Joseph must go down to prison in Egypt to become a king. Sometimes, when God is about to promote you, He humbles you. He allows you to go down the dungeon. Jesus descended into the grave before he rose. You might find yourself in a situation where you feel you are not treated fairly, or you have been humiliated, but I want to assure you that God does not humiliate those who love him. He humbles them and promotes them.
Habakuk 3: 17
Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.
