Once you have a clear understanding of the issues that face
your community you can begin to promote yourself within your community. Promotion
is one of the tactics that will position you in your community as a
knowledgeable and influential individual. At the outset it is important that you
understand that when we speak of seeking self-promotion, we are actually
seeking to promote Christ and a Biblical world view and not ourselves.
Consider
yourself the vehicle, or tool, for the Kingdom’s promotion. And so by promoting
yourself you are actually promoting the Kingdom.
The Ultimate Goal
Your goal is to bring the knowledge of Scripture in an
applicable form to bear upon the issues and policies of the day. This begins by
situating ourselves so as to be visible. We promote ourselves only so we can
gain access to areas and people in the community for the reorientation of the
culture God-ward. Whether we are seeking
to position ourselves as family advocates, legislative critics or political
activists, our goal must always be Kingdom focused.
A Delicate Balance
The promotion of one’s self can be a very tricky endeavor. On
the one hand, you do not want to shy away from self-promotion in order to engage
others in conversation for the purpose of Biblical discussion. On the other hand,
you should never seek to promote yourself in an arrogant, proud or boisterous
fashion just to get your point of view across. You must always maintain a
Christian demeanor showing yourself as responsible and resourceful person
tempered with kindness and patience. Integrity is the key, as is honesty,
kindness and a sincere consideration for others. If you use Christ to promote
your own personal agenda rather than the Kingdom’s you will quickly be found
out as a hypocrite and your witness will soon be destroyed. Once that happens
it’s almost impossible to recover. As soon as the hypocrite is revealed he or
she will no longer be trusted.
Passion
Enthusiasm is another key component to promoting anything.
If you are not enthusiastic you will never be able to engage others in your
cause. Passion is essential to any endeavor.
Author of the “Shameless Self-Promoter” and marketing expert
Debbie Allen explains,
Your mood affects your beliefs…Staying positive and
enthusiastic is essential…A positive attitude along with a contagious enthusiasm
will support your groundwork…
Introduce, Integrate,
Initiate
In order to really make an impact in your community, you should
look at every day as another opportunity to meet someone new. Introduce yourself
to someone that you haven’t met previously. We tend to stay in our comfort
zones of relationships. Sadly, that will never broaden our sphere of influence
and it certainly will not have any positive effect on our work for the Kingdom.
Once the proper introductions are made you can begin to integrate yourself into
their life through either general conversation or perhaps later on in a more intimate
discussion of ideas and philosophies.
Once a deeper relationship is developed,
which may take some time, you can proceed to initiate a
Author Larry James puts it this way,
“You call attention to yourself by paying attention to
others.”
