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Faith

The unnoticed life

Jesus and childIn yesterday’s post, I discussed Chris Tomlin’s book, The Way I was Made. One of the reviews of the book on Amazon.com disagrees with what Chris Tomlin says about the unnoticed life: “Jesus certainly did not live an unnoticed life. We are called to be servants and to be humble, but I do not believe we are called to be unnoticed.” So what did the author mean by the “unnoticed life”, and is he being hypocritical given that he himself is certainly far from “unnoticed”?

In Matthew chapter 18, when Jesus was asked, “Who is greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven?” he said: “Unless you change to become like little children, you won’t get into the Kingdom of Heaven. People who humble themselves like this little child will be the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven. Whoever receives one such little child in my name receives me.” Jesus is essentially telling people that the kingdom values are the opposite of earthly values. Whoever tries to become great won’t become great, and whoever tries to be noticed won’t be noticed.

In my view, the “unnoticed” life is about living a life in which you don’t do things for the purpose of seeking fame. It’s about integrity – living a life which pleases God even when no-one is watching. It’s about service – serving people in ways which nobody else knows about. For a person who lives an unnoticed life of integrity, public fame has little effect. What matters is not a person’s public life, but that person’s unnoticed life.