The pedestal.
Have you ever put someone on a pedestal?
Have you ever thought of someone so highly, approaching them was like entering a sacred place? Have you ever considered so much of someone that even the mere thought of them makes you go "I wanna be like them someday"?
Or is it just me?
I think too often a time, we look at people high up in ministry and do that. We compare our imperfections to where we see them to be and think "how could God ever use me?", "what have I got that the world needs?", "could something good come out of me?". Especially in an asian context where 1) we aren't encouraged to speak up about who we are and what we believe in 2) we are not often given positions of leadership unless we chose to take them 3) we tend to have this idea that we are just never good enough.
Forgive me though, if what I am saying doesn't relate to you, but for the person that it does relate to, here are some things I've learnt here:
• It's about your heart. Remember when Jesus said
"Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:26-28 NIV)
• Leaders aren't necessarily born but definitely can be made, leadership is a choice. If leadership is influence (and we all have influence of some sort), it's more about how we steward the influence we are given rather than desiring to have more of it.
• You're not that different from everyone else, but it's the choices you make: the way you choose to look at God & respond to him, the friends you have, how to let life be for yourself that really brings you to where you go.
Let me be honest, a large chunk of international students who come here go through the "fan girl phase" where they see Taya, Aodhan, Alex Pappas, Brooke Fraser, Joel and whoever else here and be like 😱😱😱😱😱😱 "OMYGOSH *dying inside*" but on the outside just cool and calmly "hi, I'm ____, nice to meet you!" And it's true a lot of people come here expecting to see them, but as cliche as it may be, they're just people too. (Whad'ya know) yes, they are amazing people who responded to God and let Him use them, yes they have an amazing voice, skill, are good at ____, _____, ______. But so are you. And you too can let God use you to impact people the way you were impacted by them. Not necessarily on a stage in Hillsong church or around the world on tour, heck, you don't have to be YouTube famous, school famous, anything famous to make a difference, you just need to be the difference wherever God has placed you.
Forget about the idea that you want Christians all over the world to look up to you for sec
and remember:
it's all about Jesus.
Love God, love people & always always always Be faithful. Watch where He will bring you when you bring excellence to the table wherever He puts you. Don't give up, if it's for Jesus then don't worry about who sees or not, He is the prize, He is the reason for all we do.
Jesus is the only One who should be on a pedestal (cause duhhhhh), only He is perfect & deserves all glory, honour & praise! ☺️
Peace out, love, Alexa.
p.s this Drake Box at youth was the coolest idea ever
