In ministry we often struggle with the tension between platform and quiet service. Jesus experienced the same tug-of-war between maintaining a following and maintaining his message, only he did it perfectly.
In John 7, we listen in on a conversation between Jesus and his skeptical brothers. Jesus has already done many miracles and has a following, but he is avoiding Judea because of death threats. The Feast of Booths is approaching. His brothers say, “Leave here and go to Judea, that your disciples also may see the works you are doing. For no one works in secret if he seeks to be known openly… show yourself to the world.” The next verse explains, “For not even his brothers believed in him” (Jn 7:1-9).
Jesus rebuffs their patronizing, but later, he goes up secretly, and in the middle of the feast, he begins to teach at the temple—specifically about platform. He points to God as the source of his authority and says, “The one who speaks on his own authority seeks his own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true” (Jn 7:18).
The conversation among the restless audience of armchair theologians goes something like this:
“Do the authorities think he might really be The One? Because here Jesus stands even after the Pharisees were talking about taking him out.”
“Of course he’s not The One. Think about it. Nobody is going to know where Messiah is from. We know where this fellow is from.”
And sure enough, anyone who wasn’t tuned in to a deep desire to know God’s will completely missed the opportunity Jesus offered (John 7:17).
Jesus did not try to join with his audience, to emphasize how much he and they had in common. He didn’t soften the message, or tell any stories in this context. In fact, he was finishing a job that he had begun previously: paring down his audience. In John 6, he’d said to the people following him, “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day” (Jn 6:54). To those who were doubting, he said, “Then what if you were to see the Son of Man ascending to where he was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life” (Jn 6:62-63). Jesus lost a lot of disciples that day. But he didn’t stop there. After the slow fade of unbelieving followers, Jesus turned to his disciples he asked them if they wanted to leave too.
These are not the only examples of Jesus’s relationship with platform. At age 30, his ministry took off with the kind of explosive following that any wannabe would crave. Yet when Peter (breathlessly, I imagine) came to him to say, “Everyone is looking for you!” Jesus’s response was “Let us go on to the next towns.” (Mark 1:38)
What are the implications for believers as we consider platform? God knew the place and time in which we would live—he placed us here to minister in the culture where we’ve been planted. The tools that we have at hand are the tools we were given to use for ministry. The gospel is meant to be amplified in the amphitheater of our age. Squelching our volume or curbing our ministry intensity may not be the answer; a lamp under a basket is an uncontrolled burn that could cause a lot of damage. So how do we use current platform resources responsibly as we consider what Jesus said and did in his ministry?
Your commitment to personal integrity affects the quality of your message. Be relentless in your pursuit of living genuine truth. Jesus demonstrated this by submitting to the Father in baptism as his first step of public ministry, entering the wilderness to fast and pray, and resisting Satan’s offer of instant fame (Luke 4:1-14; Matt 4:1-11). Personal prayerfulness, solid accountability, and self-denial in your character will be reflected in your ministry. (The book Dangerous Calling by Paul David Tripp speaks to this subject.)
You will have naysayers no matter how great your message is. They might even be your own family. Jesus said, “A prophet is not without honor except in his hometown and in his own household” (Matt 13:57). He was speaking from experience. Jesus exhibited an intentional disconnect with the earthly ties that bound Him (see Matt 12:46-50; Matt 8:22/Luke 9:60; Luke 4:16-30). We must remind ourselves that negative pushback (even from close ties) does not always signal a problem with our method or our message.
Pleasing everyone is not the point. Jesus makes this point clearly enough throughout His ministry that it needs no elaboration, but several texts are especially vivid in illustrating Jesus’s disregard for winning friends and influencing people: John 2:23-25; John 5:44; John 12:36b-38.
It is okay to minimize the damage of negative publicity so long as you recognize that the value of your mission is of greater value than self-preservation. Jesus spoke directly to his naysayers about their twisted truth on several occasions. He also actively avoided persecution and death when it was important for His message to continue (see Luke 4:30).
No matter how many credentials you have, your authority comes from a higher source. Jesus said, “For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has Himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak…What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me” (John 12:49-50). In our culture, the person (or persona) is closely tied to the message. Experts recommend that authors begin any presentation, book, article or post by establishing credibility to speak to speak to an issue. Avoiding mentioning credentials altogether can be a hindrance, so context and paradigm are key in determining your use of them. Ultimately, though, your mindset regarding your ministry authority must rest in humble submission to the Lord of Lords.
You have a responsibility to use the position, tools and talents that are given to you. Jesus spoke to position in John 8:39 when he said, “If you are Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did.” Throughout the gospels, Jesus used the tools around him to minister: such as when he got into a boat and sat down or used hillsides as natural amphitheaters. Though talents fall into a special category for Jesus, he gave us the example of healing and teaching from the beginning of his ministry until he climbed Golgotha.
Felicity and fallout are two sides of the fame coin. As you consider practical aspects of utilizing social media, YouTube, or the press, commit to continually and prayerfully submit your own desires for significance to the Lord, asking Him to establish the work of your hands. When we humbly depend upon the Lord’s provision for the foundation on which we stand, we are clearer heralds of His truth.