Some People Just Have to Be Recognized

You know the kind of people they are: always pointing out the good things they do, and getting their feelings hurt if no one notices or makes a fuss over them. Take my friend, Bob McEachern, for example. I don't know how many times he has said something to me about giving him credit on here for taking the picture of me and Jan that appears on the blog. OK, Bob, here you go. You took a great picture (considering half the subject matter, anyway). Seriously, though, I'm only kidding Bob, and he's the kind of person who both knows that and can take the kidding. Truth be told, Bob is the exact opposite of the kind of person I'm talking about. He will gladly sacrifice himself to help out other people and never seek, expect, or want any kind of public recognition.

But there are plenty of people who want the recognition. Why is that? It's a problem with "self." When "self" becomes too important in a person's life, all kinds of problems emerge. Seeking recognition for what they do is only one of them. Jesus talked about people who made a big commotion to call attention to themselves whenever they did some charitable deed (Matthew 6:1-4). Their motivation was to receive glory from men. Now think about the dynamics of this. They performed some charitable deed. That would obviously help someone who needed the help. But the kindness and aid given to someone in need wasn't significant enough to them to satisfy them. This act also should have brought glory to God. After all, God was the One responsible for their ability to give in the first place, and He was the One who taught about the giving nature of true love. But not even this was significant enough for them. Why? Because "self" was more important than the needy, and even more important to them than God.

This is the problem with seeking recognition. It shows that we think we are more significant in the grand scheme of things even than God! This kind of thinking causes us to undervalue everything everyone else does (even including God) and to overvalue everything we do. This person might as well just come out and say, "Since I'm so important, what I do must be worthy of recognition."

Maybe this little exercise will help us to put ourselves in perspective. Anytime you are tempted to think people ought to recognize you for something you did, try to see your good deeds in light of life as a whole. "I bought some food for a hungry family," someone might say. OK, that's great; but what's going to happen when that food runs out, and how many other hungry families are there in the world that you could not buy food for? Another might say, "I spent an afternoon repairing some things on a widow's house." Again, that's wonderful; but think of all the other people in similar situations that you were not able to assist. "I had a home Bible study with someone." Terrific! But are you the only person in the world trying to save the lost? What about the billions of people in the world who are still in sin?

The point of this is not take away from the importance and significance of doing good works. These kinds of things are wonderful and we need more people who are willing to do them. But our attitude toward doing them needs to be right. Jesus said, "So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do’ " (Luke 17:10). We do what we do in service to the Lord because we are servants and that's what the Lord expects of us. If we want to please our Master then we will gladly serve Him by doing good, whether other people recognize us for it or not.