From Somebody to Nobody

Just shot this photo where I'm writing right now. Downward mobility.  

The journey from being somebody to nobody is much harder than the journey from being nobody to somebody. Many people have made the shift from nobody to somebody. Just do something big. Or invent something great. Or lead something well. And boom! You were a nobody and now you're a somebody. Which is great, because deep down we all long to be somebody. Somebody noticed, important, needed, admired, loved. 

However, the journey in the other direction is not nearly as simple...when you think you're somebody and you start to hear the call toward being a nobody. That is much, much harder to pull off. It isn't as glamorous. It isn't as rewarding. And It surely isn't as popular. 

Just think about most of the influential leaders and groups you know. They want more, not less. Bigger, not smaller. Popularity, not obscurity. But an honest look at Jesus, tells us that he saw things differently. I love how Philippians 2 lays out Jesus' quest to the bottom:

• I am not grasping to be God
• I will not cling to status 
• I lay aside the privileges that could be mine
• I become a human...a slave, even
• Get majorly humbled 
• Stay obedient 
• Give my life 

I guess the truth is, that this lesson is getting more and more personal for me as the years go on. It feels like every step I have taken in my "career" over the last 15 years have been steps "down" the ladder. And some days I don't like it. But my spirit is telling me....keep going. 

I wonder if there is something extremely significant about becoming a nobody? Something I am still learning, and it doesn't feel like its ending anytime soon.