Not Fade Away

I was reading the latest issue of Outreach magazine - an interview with Erwin McManus:

Q What's the key to unleashing that human potential?

A Not seeing human potential and the glory of God as somehow in conflict with each other. You hear that all the time in churches! In fact, that happened at the Mayan, one of our locations, a couple of weeks ago. One of our attendees is this amazing artist, one of the Suicide Girls of SuicideGirls Radio on L.A.'s Indie 103.1 FM. [The four-year-old show features interviews, advice, current events andmusic, and Rolling Stone named Indie 103.1 "America's coolest commercial station."] She has incredible talent, musically and as a writer, and she's a brand-new follower of Christ. Well, some guy came up and was asking her questions. He said to her, "So, you're going to just let God do it from now on and you're going to fade away, right?" and she said, "Yeah." I said, "No! You're not going to fade away!"

This guy was telling her that she had to let God become bigger and bigger and shine more and more, and she had to fade away. That's not biblical. God created you in His image and likeness, and He is glorified by that. God revels and celebrates when a human being is fully alive.

And, okay, I kind of get what the guy was trying to tell this girl, but what McManus says really resonates with me.

God is honored by us living fully in the talent and potential that he's given us, right? I mean, why else give us these passions and gifts and abilities? I agree with "let God become bigger and bigger" in your life. I mean, I need to recognize that God is a part of, that God permeates every moment of my life. So, even when I'm doing something stupid (and I have my moments), that stupid moment is infused with God's presence. So, yeah, God becomes bigger and bigger.

But I should "fade away"? What? I don't even know what that means.

I DO want people to see more and more of God in my life - but I do that within the interests and abilities that God has given me. As I nurture who I really am - authentically, created by God - then I can probably more authentically share who God is in my life than I can if I'm trying to live up to some other standard or expectation of who I "should" be.