I’ve been reticent to promote myself or promote our organization like I ought to on social media platforms and even sometimes through speaking engagements because I’ve felt that it’s egocentric or narcissistic. I think this proverb written thousands of years ago in the Hebrew Old Testament is very counter-cultural to our present culture of self-promotion. A majority of people have Instagram and Facebook and they have their own opinions and we have Yelp, etc. Everything’s based off on approval ratings and what “I” think. And I think that there’s a fuzzy line where our ego and our self can become the center of the universe. We can think so highly of our opinions and ourselves and get stuck on our own glory that we think this is the way reality ought to be when it’s far more beautiful, far more powerful when somebody else praises you rather then you promoting yourself.
There’s been multiple times where I’ve done something small like picked up after my roommates or cleaned their dish or took out the trash. Later, somebody else will ask, who did the dishes? Or who picked up the trash? And nobody knows who it was and I want to say it was me, rather than not needing the credit.
Why do I need their acknowledgment that I did it? Why? Because I want to glorify myself. There’s a part of my heart that wants to get glory. I want to be the star, I want to be the superhero. I think it takes a dying to self on multiple spheres of life to be dependent on God raising you up through other people. If somebody’s kind, they don’t have to say they’re kind, people just know it. If you’re generous, you don’t need to say you’re generous. This proverb when it talks about seeking your own glory, there’s something very ugly about it and that’s why I’ve been reticent to promote us and promote myself.
But I’m very glad that Shannon Fox has come on with Minute Marketing because I feel like it’s less personal when I promote my thoughts or Unity 4 Orphans. She’s doing it from her perspective and it just feels right and it’s been blessed I think.
But I do prophetically want to ask you to look deep into your soul and analyze if there’s a spirit of self-promotion or glorification of self or other people rather than God or the oppressed. And see it for the ugliness it is. But at the same time, Jesus says to be as wise as a serpent, innocent as a dove, and to be shrewd about how to make money. I’m trying to learn and trust our board and my friends that are business people that we do need to promote ourselves and brand ourselves and our business. Because if we don’t promote our business, not as many people have the opportunity to hear about what we do. If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, does it make a sound? Of course it exists, but nobody hears it or sees it. If we don’t promote our business on all the different marketing platforms then not as many people have the opportunity to hear about our mission.
There’s this tension of not letting self-glory drip out, ooze out, in a bunch of different areas, personally and professionally. But at the same time, if you’re trying to grow your business or your sphere of influence, there is an element of faith where you need to step out and say, this is what I think and this is who I am. In the past, I have in my brokenness and pain not wanted to promote what we’re doing with Unity 4 Orphans, but now we’re stepping into a new season and I’m going to try and adopt the various business marketing techniques of promoting your business, of having a blog and letting my voice be heard and seeing what happens. But as I do this, I want you to know that I don’t want to glorify myself, I want to glorify Jesus and God and lift up the vulnerable poor that my team is trying to help.
Joe Brandi 