John, the evangelist, quoted Jesus, “Those who speak on their own, seek their own glory; but the one who seeks the glory of him who sent him is true, and there is nothing false in him.”
I read this over the weekend and asked myself how that applies to me. In my professional life, I am pretty well-known in my industry. Whenever I write something or whenever I’m thinking about our magazine or company, I often stop to ponder if I’m just reporting and analyzing fairly, or if I’m doing something to seek more reputation.
While I was pondering this thought from Jesus and before I had time to write, a cool thing happened. The Dallas Mavericks defeated the Miami Heat for the championship of the National Basketball Association.
I don’t follow the NBA anymore. Too many selfish prima donnas there. And the top self-promoter as the world’s greatest basketball player is LeBron James. To orchestrate an hour-long TV special about his decision to leave the Cleveland Cavaliers (where he failed to bring a championship, often faltering in the fourth quarter in clutch situations), he proclaimed he would bring a championship to Miami. Well he faltered again in the clutch.
Someday Miami may win a championship. Maybe not. I don’t care. But to see the triumph of a team that plays like a team over a self-proclaimed great player was rewarding.
Jesus said that if you seek glory for the one who sent you, there is nothing false in you.
No matter what you are doing, stop occasionally and ask, “For whom do I work?” Certainly in America we’ve generated a mindset of getting ahead on our own merits. “What’s in it for me” is the mantra. Jesus implies that there is something false there. But if your mantra is “What’s in it for God and others” then you are approaching truth.
Faith Venture 
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