Becoming A Visible Role Model by Pastor Sam Adeyemi: MP3 Download & Sermon Notes

Are You Winking in the Dark?

In the advertising industry, they say that the man who refuses to advertise is like a man who winks at a girl in the dark - he knows what he is doing, but nobody else does.

You cannot be an effective role model if people cannot see you. They need to be able to see your actions. They need to be able to see your achievements. They need to be able to see your behaviour - because that is when they will be inspired and know exactly what they are supposed to do.

The big question is: right now, are you on a lampstand or are you under a basket?

A Lesson from the Holy Spirit

In the early part of 2001, the Holy Spirit posed a question: What are 20,000 flyers in a city of 12 million people? The Spirit said: when Coca-Cola has a product, it goes on television, radio, and billboards everywhere. But pastors approach things completely differently - prayer and fasting, but no advertising. So the entire spiritual world is aware that an event is happening, but the physical world is not. And when the event comes, the place is packed with angels - because only the spiritual world was informed.

That conversation shifted everything. Advertising professionals in the church were gathered and consulted. They said: the place to start is not advertising - the place to start is branding. People need to know the name, the value, and the benefit of what is being offered. Two weeks later, a plan was in place. The result was radio, television, newspapers, and billboards every weekend, 100,000 flyers per event. The church doubled in three months.

You cannot stay somewhere, remain unseen, and expect people to respond to you when they do not even know you exist.

Resolving the Apparent Contradiction

There appears to be a tension between Matthew 5:14-16 - You are the light of the world; let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven - and Matthew 6:1-6: Do not do your good deeds publicly to be admired by others.

But read in context, the tension dissolves. The only difference between the two passages is who is getting the glory. In Matthew 5, the good works are visible - but the result is that the Father is glorified. In Matthew 6, the good deeds are public - but the motive is personal admiration. The one who seeks their own glory loses the eternal reward. The one whose visibility points others to God is fulfilling the assignment.

It does not pay God, and it does not pay the believer, to hide.

Who People See Is Who People Follow

In 2009, praying in the UK, the Holy Spirit said: It is time for this ministry to go global. But before that instruction could be processed, there was an adjustment needed. The Spirit said: the church in Africa is influenced by a culture that defines success mainly by the material and the physical - the number of people you can see in a room. But a person who speaks to a smaller crowd and places that message on a powerful television platform will reach more people and influence more lives across the world than the one who spoke to the very large crowd.

Who people see is who people follow.

The word to act on: leverage media technology. Upon returning from that trip, the entire media department was dissolved and reshaped. Within the year, the ministry was on one of the largest Christian television networks in the world - Daystar Television. The first ministry based in Africa to reach that platform. A channel that reached across the globe.

Christ the Strategist

Christ himself leveraged the best positions available to reach the crowds:

• He climbed the side of a mountain in Matthew 5 - the elevation allowed the wind to carry his voice to the whole crowd.
• He borrowed Peter's boat in Luke 5 and pushed out a little from the shore - the wind from the sea carried his voice to everyone on the bank.

If the goal is to be a role model in this generation, a voice must be found, and a place must be occupied where people can see. Social media is a lampstand. Television is a lampstand. Radio is a lampstand. Use the lampstand.

Before the Lampstand - Make Sure There Is Light

Before standing on any lampstand, make sure there is light. It is God who does the lighting. What took the light of mankind away was sin - the nature of sin. God sent Jesus Christ to restore that light. When the punishment he took on the cross is received by faith, and forgiveness is asked for, God forgives. The light returns. The lamp can now be placed on a stand.

In 1994, the question was: God, what is the next level? The marching orders came: Go on radio. Teach people how to succeed. The moment that lampstand was used, the light threw rays across a city. People came. Lives changed. The rest is history.