Though in my senior year of high school my Leadership class voted for me as "Most Likely to Become a Politician" I've never run a successful campaign. At least, not successful in my high standards!

I think I first ran for office in sixth grade. A class rep or something. Didn't win. If I remember though, my crush did win. It still didn't change the fact that she didn't recognize my existence, even thoguh I was one of the constituents under her leadership.

Then in middle school, I ran for student council. But so few people signed up for the council that I was actually chosen by a teacher without a formal vote. And in our first meeting, we decided to form an oligarchy--we were all equal parties with no titles like "President." That was the first time I formed a government without the input of the people, totally subverting democracy. And it wouldn't be the last--but how I helped rig a school election will be a story for another time.

Then I ran for President of the Junior Class in high school. I didn't get President, but I got third or fourth place, meaning I was stuck with the job of Secretary. The Juniors were in charge of planning prom, so that meant I was a glorified party planner. Despite helping plan it, I never even attended Prom.

For my senior year, it was time to go big. I ran for Associated Student Body President, the highest achievement in all of school politics. After an aggressive campaign that tried to highlight how I saw and understood the needs of the students with slogans like "I See You" which I didn't realize until later gave off a serious Big Brother vibe--I didn't get President. Again, I got like fourth place which meant I got to be the Secretary again. I still remember being at a Chik-Fil-A in the Denver airport when I got the call for the results, softly sobbing into some nuggets. I was devastated, but hey, if the President and Vice President were declared unfit for office I could weasel my way into power. Yeah, I ran the numbers.

Then in my Freshman year of college, I tried to become class president. I had a brilliant idea--to don a yellow sombrero that would make me stand out during election week so people would approach me and get to know me. Yeah, lost that one big time. Apparently you have to be "sociable" and "likeable" and stuff like that to win elections. However, I ended up being chosen by the Freshman Experience staff to be the male social service director which was actually an awesome gig.

For so much of my life, I craved power and prestige. We all know school elections are popularity contests, and it would be a great ego boost to be the dude people trusted to...to...to do whatever school presidents do. Boy was it extra devastating to see some of the clowns that got elected in higher positions! I just wanted to make a difference and be seen as SOMEBODY.

When I guested on the "On the Road to Damascus" podcast in March, the hosts asked me about the Christ-centered identity in my book Who We Are that I have the hardest time forming in my life. Hands down my biggest challenge is putting my identity in a heart for God over my success and achievements. I'm an Enneagram 3 ("The Achiever"), which is just a fancy way to say I want to be valuable in the world more than anything and my biggest fear is being worthless. And the Lord knows I couldn't do sports, so student government was my chosen arena.

But jokes on me I couldn't even do that! Over the years, I've been humbled by my losing streak with school politics. See, I always tended to end up just where I fit nicely. Honestly, I think I would have despised being the President of all those things. I thank the Lord for watching out for me. I don't know if God rigged any elections, but I always seemed to be in a good spot.

I still haven't perfectly aligned my heart to God's interests. My heart still sometimes veers off and desires achievements so people will adore me (almost daily, I have to remind myself that I can't actually get three Ph.Ds.). But what I've found is I often need to tell myself to "seek first the Kingdom of God." When I lay out a path, I have to check my motivations. Is this to make me look good or to make God look good? It's no magic formula, but with some practice, I've been able to identify my own motives so I can course-correct the situation.

Jesus is pretty clear in Matthew 6:19-21 that we are supposed to focus our efforts not on accumulating physical “stuff” here on earth but accumulating metaphorical “stuff” in Heaven. I'm haunted by Jesus' phrase "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Am I racking up points with my peeps or with God? Answering that question most days is a humbling experience.

We have to check that our thoughts and behaviors are aimed at storing up treasures in heaven. Winning all the student council elections doesn't give you worth. God gives you worth. I'm valuable because God says I'm valuable, not because of anything I can ever do.

Check yo hearts,

Jake Doberenz