STAGEHANDS FOR THE SAVIOR

Every person's pupils were practically glued to the pandemonium among the pirates and pillagers. Buccaneers swung from the crow's nest to the main deck, battling raiders and robbers with their blood-drawing blades. "Avast ye! Give no quarter to these scurvy dogs!" yelled the captain. After a brief brawl, the invaders were repelled and the ruckus settled down. And that's when I saw it: a man stepping out of the shadows to mop the deck.

While watching the Pirates Voyage Dinner & Show in Panama City, Florida, I couldn't help but notice the stagehands who quietly emerged from behind the scenes to keep the stage safe and prepare for the next act. They unhooked ropes, removed and repositioned props, and checked on the actors to ensure everything was running smoothly. They weren't the center of attention--their job was to guarantee that the stage was set for the main actors who were. They weren't the stars of the show and received no applause. They had one mission: to ensure the spotlight shined on the real stars.

And this is precisely what Christians are called to do for Christ. Believers are stagehands for the Savior. Jesus is highly exalted "far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named" (Eph. 1:21a), and our job as believers is to keep it that way in our hearts and lives. The mission statement of our lives ought to be that of John the Baptizer: "He must increase, but I must decrease" (John 3:30). As the reformer John Calvin once said, this world is a "theater for God's glory," and our divine duty is to ensure that the spotlight shines on the real Hero: Jesus.

This means fighting the temptation to "think of [ourselves] more highly than [we] ought to think" (Rom. 12:3). We must see ourselves as "unworthy servants" (Luke 17:10) whose principal assignment is to shine the light of our good works upon Him (Matt. 5:16). Everything we do should draw people's attention to Christ, so "that the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified" (2 Thess. 1:12a). Our soul's greatest passion should be that of Psalm 115:1, where the psalmist prayed, "Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!"

One day, Jesus will return to take center stage and every eye will see Him (Rev. 1:7). Everyone in the universe will "take a bow" not to receive glory, but to give glory to the Morning Star (Phil. 2:10-11; Rev. 22:16). And those who hogged the spotlight will be humbled and eternally regretful that they did not make Jesus the center of their lives (Luke 14:11). But, saints who served as stagehands will be eternally glad they did not steal the spotlight (Rev. 4:10-11). Are you a stagehand for the Savior?