Obedience Over Popularity

This morning I was reading a bit in John's Gospel, and considering Jesus' attitude towards His ministry.  Here are the verses I am thinking about - John 7:2-5 NIV:

[2] "But when the Jewish Festival of Tabernacles was near, [3] Jesus' brothers said to him, “Leave Galilee and go to Judea, so that your disciples there may see the works you do. [4] No one who wants to become a public figure acts in secret. Since you are doing these things, show yourself to the world.” [5] For even his own brothers did not believe in him."

-and-

John 7:8-9 NIV:
[8] "You go to the festival. I am not going up to this festival, because my time has not yet fully come.” [9] After he had said this, he stayed in Galilee."

I find it interesting that Jesus' brothers did not believe in Him.  I believe that part of the reason is highlighted in these verses, namely that Jesus didn't act the way they all thought a Messiah would act.  He wasn't pursuing public recognition, or trying to increase His crowds.  He wasn't trying to be popular, and that just doesn't make sense to our human mind-set.

From a human perspective it would logically flow that Jesus would want to have as many followers as possible, that the Good News could be shared with all.  Yet Jesus didn't act that way.  Instead He chose to minimize His public image, going to the countryside rather than the bigger cities.  He was constantly telling people who He healed to go home and not tell anyone what He had done.  Jesus chose obedience to the Father over popularity.  He did not pursue man's favor, or seek to ingratiate Himself with the leaders of the day.

I think that we would be wise to follow in His footsteps in this area.  Clearly we are called to obedience to the Father over popularity. Our goal should not be to increase the size of our churches so much as to be faithful to the specific ministry and people we are called to pursue.  I think at times we can get so focused on the numbers, rationalizing the desire to increase our ministries as a path to seeing more salvations, that we lose site of our original call.  Sometimes that pursuit of increase is directly related to the increase of tithe, which can correlate to a better salary.

At the end of the day, I believe the key thing to consider is whose voice are we listening too when we are working to grow the ministry we have been given?  Do we follow the voices of the people, trying to win popularity, or do we pursue obedience to God first?  Do we judge our success on the number of people who attend the events of the weekend, or do we look to the Lord and see what He says about our ministries ability to represent Him correctly?  Are we more interested in our job function, than we are in our personal relationship with Him?  Do we have a sense of His timing and purpose and follow that rather than popular church-growth strategies and techniques?  Are we OK with His Name being glorified over ours?  Do we compromise our calling and His truth, for the sake of growing the ministry and touching more people?

I believe that if we are to continue Jesus' ministry on earth, than it should look very much like His ministry.  I am not saying we shouldn't adapt or be creative as He directs, only that our hearts be united to His, and we pursue obedience over popularity.  It is my desire to faithfully and accurately represent Jesus to all I meet.