“6 Do not exalt yourself in the king’s presence,
and do not claim a place among his great men;
7 it is better for him to say to you, “Come up here,”
than for him to humiliate you before his nobles.
”
When Jesus reiterates one of the Proverbs in the teaching of His disciples, it is probably worth paying a little extra attention to! Here is what Jesus says in Luke 14:
“When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you, ‘Give this person your seat.’ Then, humiliated, you will have to take the least important place. But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, ‘Friend, move up to a better place.’ Then you will be honored in the presence of all the other guests. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.”
I experienced this one a lot in my youth. Growing up as an athlete, I was my number one fan! I was quick to display my talents and even quicker to talk about them. Surprisingly, it wasn’t well received!
Fortunately, God provided a basketball coach for me who took it upon himself to help me understand humility. It didn’t seem fair at the time, the lessons were difficult, but I am grateful for them.
The struggle for me now in my business is the opposite. I struggle to promote myself at all. As I have wrestled with the balance of humility and self-promotion I have concluded that I am more comfortable and more at peace when I stay quiet, trusting God to bring opportunities for good work for me to engage in.
I just keep waiting for the king to call for executive coaching.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
Do you struggle with the balance between promoting your business and practicing humility? How do you know when it is time to step forward and take a seat at the head of the table? Share your thoughts below.