What about prestige?

By Elaine Vitikainen

A secular client I was working for recently kept mentioning the word ‘prestige’. She said that there is no pressure and no prestige involved. I found prestige a strange word. I’d never really thought about prestige in relation to my work. I had never seen myself aiming for prestige.

I like to think that prestige is not really an issue for me. I know I can only do what I do because God has enabled me to do it. Everything is only made possible with God. Am I too naïve? It made me ponder the verse: “But let the one who boasts boast about this: that they have the understanding to know me, that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 9:24)

As I reflected on this verse, I realised that I was not immune from the trap of prestige. After all, do I not really look for prestige when I show people my graphic art work? Do I not aim for prestige when I talk about my work to others?

This week:                                                                                                                                                         Think about the work that we do. How much of our identity, our sense of self, is tied up in what we do? At what points does a desire for prestige quietly creep in?