Chasing Clout

We just finished an amazing series titled, Go First, and I don’t know about you, but it has left me asking myself a few questions like:

1.  Am I willing to grow spiritually even if it makes me uncomfortable?

2.  If I am called to the five areas Pastor Jared mentioned in the sermon series (deeper emotional health, spiritual depth, relational connection, sexual wholeness, and purposeful vocation), what changes will I make?

3.  And how will I respond to the call of being a Go First leader?”

God is certainly using this series to stir us into deep spiritual maturity and formation. But I also believe that it has always been God’s heart that each of us will pursue sanctification and discipleship until… eternity.

So, today I want to share with you the importance of spending time with the Father in the secret place and how it has personally transformed my faith life and helped me grow in discipleship.

First, let me explain what I mean by the secret place. Theologian and author Jeran Ferguson defines the secret place as “simply a life of continual fellowship with the Father, without the need to be seen by others as ‘spiritual.’” In other words, the secret place isn’t a geographical location. It is the various areas of our lives that we pursue God and do things for God. It’s the devoted time you put in to draw near to the Lord, with a heart posture whose sole focus is to be seen by Him, not man.

Matthew 6:1 says,

“Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”

- Matthew 6:1

There’s a common theme in Matthew 6. It goes on to say whether you are giving to the needy, praying, or fasting, do it for the Father in secret “…and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly” (Matthew 6:2-18).

I once heard a quote that I believe speaks to the heart of this passage that said: “You can accomplish so much more when you do not care who gets the credit.”

Hearing that transformed the way I approached ministry and life. It even expanded my territory in unimaginable ways, because I believe God knew my heart was to please Him. I was no longer waiting for recognition or a pat on the back, I was doing it all for God. My prayer is that all Christians would have that heart posture. We could accomplish so much more for the Kingdom if our sole focus was just to please Him.

We live in a world where chasing clout is normalized and even encouraged.

Clout-chasing is when you do things to be seen, with the goal of being popular, cool, or to gain influence on a large scale. And most times, clout-chasers are doing and saying outlandish things just for attention. Well, I think sometimes we can be Christian clout-chasers - doing things for God to be seen by man. But, being a disciple of Jesus means a heart change. Theologian Jim Putnam teaches three things that happen as a maturing disciple of Jesus:

1. You move from self-centered to others-centered.

2. You become God-centered in motivation.

3. You have the desire to serve and lead.

So, today, whether you buy a homeless man a meal or fast for the next three days, may you dwell in the secret place, with a pure heart and without the expectation of being seen by the world. The most important thing is that God sees you and His Word tells us that He will reward us openly.

So in whatever you do today, do it all for the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).

Som Tami

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