Francis Schaeffer, reflecting on Jesus' words in Luke 14:7-11 and, in the process, offering prescient advice for Christians in the era of platform-building and online influence:

Jesus commands Christians to consciously seek the lowest room. All of us—pastors, teachers, professional religious workers, and nonprofessional included—are tempted to say, “I will take the larger place because it will give me more influence for Jesus Christ.” Both individual Christians and Christian organizations fall prey to the temptation of rationalizing this way as we build bigger and bigger empires. But according to the Scripture this is backwards: we should consciously take the lowest place unless the Lord himself extrudes us into a greater one.

Wise words, those. But how rarely are they practiced. I’m reminded of R. Lucas Stamps' article, “Pursue Obscurity.” The advice given in the title (courtesy of his mentor, Craig Bartholomew) is more active than we’re used to. As Stamps explains, “It is not enough simply to accept obscurity, if it happens to be our lot. Rather, there is virtue in positively pursuing obscurity, in seeking anonymity and nonrecognition.” Or, as Schaeffer puts it, we should consciously—intentionally—take the lowest place unless the Lord extrudes us (i.e., forces out under pressure) into a greater one. In other words, be like Augustine, who strenuously avoided the office of bishop and actually wept when he was thrust into the role by the people of Hippo.