Who Gets the Applause?

Brett Younger is professor of preaching at McAfee School of Theology in Atlanta. He recently wrote about the people he sees in the park where he walks. “My crowd,” he says, “wears knee braces and warm-up pants. We include lots of moms with strollers.” One of the regulars “must be in his 80s. The way he runs makes me think at least one hip and one knee are recent additions.”

One day a group of “young people in $200 Nikes” showed up at the park and “were dashing around at a startling pace. The high school cross-county team had invaded our family-friendly track. A thundering herd of 16-year-olds with 2 percent body fat.” Their parents and coaches were cheering them.

Younger began to think about whether the wrong people are getting the applause. Then he wrote, “The runners we should admire the most may not be the young fast ones, but the grandparents who drag themselves out of bed when they are feeling sore all over.

“The real heroes and heroines may not get the loudest ovations. The quickest, smartest and best looking should not get all of the praise. The best Sunday school teacher may not be the one with the biggest class, but the gracious friend who has been caring for the same good people for decades. The best pastor may not be the one with the biggest church, but the minister who faithfully serves a congregation that struggles to survive. God’s finest are the ones – young and old, large and small – who are not running for applause.”

I like Brett Younger’s way of looking at what deserves the most praise. When I think of our church and our members, I think of these words from the Bible: “The Lord does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart” (1Samuel 16:7). Being a long-time gracious friend may not attract a lot of applause. Serving faithfully when things are tough may not win awards, but God sees the hearts of those who aren’t seeking praise, just running the race with patience and looking only to Jesus. (See Hebrews 12:1-2.)