CHH artist Jaylafé recently wrote an article about ministering for wrong motives. Check it out:

For Those Who Crave the Stage

For those who crave attention, applause, adoration and accolades, and especially for those who do this under the disguise of ministry, conduct a survey of God's Word (I've highlighted some Scriptures below).  Would you want to have a successful life and ministry by man's standards or by God's standards?  Attention, applause, adoration and accolades are most definitely not always the measure of a successful life in God's eyes.  God is far more concerned with private motives than with public displays, with the depth of one's ministry over the breadth, with the purity of one's heart over the platform of one's voice. 

Where man measures by public image, God measures by private motives.  Where man measures by credentials, God measures by character.  Where man measures by numbers, God measures by fear and reverence.  When a minister of any sort is more interested in people's applause than he is in their salvation and sanctification, he is in serious jeopardy.  It is quite possible to have influence over hundreds of thousands, possess great education, be a great artist and merit respect but fail as a Christian in God's eyes.  To be sure, there are both famous and hardly-known Christians who have succeeded and famous and hardly-known Christians who have not.  Be careful about which standards you use to measure yourself.

Do you not realize that the only reason you are on earth is to evangelize and disciple others that they might come to see the glory of Christ (Matt. 28:19-20)?  Except for this reason alone, we should be in Heaven right now in the presence of Christ and His Glory (John 17:24; Philippians 1:23).  There is literally no other reason to be here.  We shouldn't hope for our name to spread through the earth but for His universal Kingdom to consume it (Matt. 6:33). 

The life of man is the desire to be with God, and the death of man is the desire to be God.  If your hope is not in the power and fulfilling presence of God drenching all reality, and you with it, you truly have no hope.  The adoration of man for man is not included in God's Glory, nor does the adoration of man lend meaning to one's life.  It cannot, so why continue to go after it?  The Glory of God is our only possible meaning and satisfaction, because the only reason we were created was for His Glory (Isaiah 43:7).  Beyond this, the only reason anything exists is God's Glory.  God isn't sharing control over reality with someone else.  He defines it and gives it its only purpose. 

If God created the world for Himself and His Glory, what other goal exists?  If His plan and His glory are the only things that exist, and we are merely part of them, what else could we possibly live for?  Living for the glory of self is not only twisted but illogical in this case.  It is more foolish than an ant in an ant farm telling the other ants in it that he controls the human family who bought the ant farm.  Indeed, the essence of sin is the search for something outside of His Glory. 

The respect of man always fades.  The Glory of God is the only permanent thing conceivable.  So, what does the applause and attention of others have to do with the Glory of God unless the one being applauded is completely sold out to Him?  If it does not apply to the glory of God, you don't want it. Why would you? Remember that here, in a place where man is perceived to be on top, and we make little kings out of little men and women, we have no lasting city (Hebrews 13:14). 

The Glory and presence of God is our meaning and our prize.  Thirst for that, for it will be better for you than you can imagine.  If being in His presence and feeling His Glory is the desire of your heart, numbers, applause, attention and awards will mean very little. The stages and attention may come and go, but they are less significant in the grand scheme of His judgments.  Would you still crave the stage and the fame if God specifically intended for you to minister to a congregation of 30 in back-country America?  Would you still want a the adoration of millions if God did not desire for you to have it?

Would you want the American dream at the expense of God's will?  Would you truly trade an eternity of reward and the highest approval in the presence of God for perhaps 20 years of man's applause?  Many of us would quickly say "no" with our mouths but would take longer to say "no" with our hearts.  It is impossible to value the praise of both man and God.  Which will you choose?  A mixed motive is a bad motive.  Now, I realize it's not possible to have a sinless heart this side of Heaven.  But if we're honest with ourselves, most of us don't fight and pray against the sin in our hearts nearly as hard as we could.

Simply put, it is foolish to measure one's life by human standards rather than by God's standards when God created man.  If you struggle with pride, pray with fervor for the Spirit to help you.  If you hold some measure of authority over others in a ministry position, do this with a fearful joy, for you are speaking to them on behalf of God Himself who will judge you (James 3:1).  Of course, the call to hate pride and fill one's heart with God's glory applies to everyone.  Don't yearn for academic validity or respect or attention.  These are false prizes.  If God chooses to give you a numerically-greater platform in whatever you do, do not dare measure yourself in pride by it. 

Remember that He will not cease to scrutinize your private thoughts.  Yearn to hear Him say, "Well done, good and faithful servant" (Matt. 25:21).  Of course, we are not saved by our works (Ephesians 2:8-9), but we are made right with God only through trusting in Christ as the forgiver of our sins and giving our lives to Him as Lord.   With that said, our works and hearts do determine our heavenly experience (2 John 1:8).  Would you much sooner long for a richer experience of Christ in Heaven than any degree of human applause?  If so, focus on the things God focuses on.  Measure your life the way He measures it, for that is the only measurement that matters anyway.

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