Topic: Nameless and Faceless [David Wilkerson Devotional 27 DECEMBER  2024]

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Nameless and Faceless

Gary Wilkerson

December 27, 2024

Most of us have probably heard about the tremendous outpouring at Asbury University, Kentucky, in early 2023, which included weeks of continuous prayer, repentance, and worship. I talked to one of the pastors who oversees the chapel at Asbury, and he told me that one of the things he felt the students were hungry for was nameless, faceless leadership.

Our young people are swamped with celebrity culture on social media and in Hollywood. Our culture is full of who’s who and who knows whom. More and more, though, our younger generations are becoming sick of it. They want something authentic. I think we all do, honestly.

We get nervous when young people start deconstructing and pulling at the strings of tradition, and I don’t think that uneasiness is unearned. However, I think a lot of the younger generation is turning away from excess and hypocrisy, and they should. 

God and scripture have always had the answer to this desire. This is what makes our faith so distinctive when it pulls away from fame and fortune. When we say, “We just want to see more of God,” it directs the spotlight from a certain preacher or evangelist and onto the God we are longing to see. 

It sounds so easy, right? Along the way, though, it seems like the names and faces of the leaders or the “stars” become so important that there isn’t room for Christ. 

My friend Pastor Carter Conlon has so accurately said, “We pray for these big moves of God, and then we can’t get out of his way.” We must keep adding and expanding, but that’s sometimes more than God ever asked of us.

If this is something you’ve caught yourself falling into, there’s no shame in repenting and coming back around. It’s in our fallen nature to self-promote; we’ve been doing it ever since the Garden of Eden, and it’s hard to let go of the posturing. Once we do, though, we’ll find true substance. 

When we’re no longer consumed with how we’re going to frame a moment or spin our image, our words will have weight. As John the Baptist said of Christ, “He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30, ESV).

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