Is Fame a Bad Thing?

The "older" people among us may immediately think of Irene Cara, but I'm speaking to a position of mass recognition, not the movie, musical, or song (we may all agree in those cases that Fame is, indeed, a bad thing). Fame can corrupt noble and even holy intentions. Being in a position of leadership or notoriety can corrupt; not particularly in church leadership, but in any job or effort. See Jan Owen's post a little while back, "What Would You Say?" about how some people apparently just expect a position of influence to be automatically corrupting -- I wasn't sure if I found it humorous or disturbing, but I couldn't keep from laughing.

There are lots of things that are noteworthy in the account of the queen of Sheba visiting Solomon. I noted in a post back in February that she saw his servants and household, and the way they presented themselves led her to praise God. This verse sticks out to me: "When the queen of Sheba heard of Solomon’s fame, which brought honor to the name of the Lord, she came to test him with hard questions." (1 Kings 10:1, NLT, emphasis mine) Solomon served God and saw to it that the things that he did brought honor to the name of the Lord.

I recently met a young lady who has a fantastic voice, and has finally decided that she's going to begin singing for revivals, concerts, and such. She held off doing this because she wanted to make sure her motives were correct. Now she's decided that the time is right to move forward. I think that's commendable!

I've struggled with the idea of writing something like a devotional book because I'm a little worried that I'll begin to be obsessed with trying to make it a "success," and that it might become an end rather than a means. (Of course, everyone knows that we really, really need another devotional book at Christian bookstores -- the selection is so sparse.)

I've learned, I think, that we shouldn't be afraid of recognition -- we shouldn't let fear prevent us from doing what God has prepared for us to do. Solomon did what he was called to do, he honored God (at the outset), and fame came along the way. The problematic issues come when we seek out the recognition and honor of others, or, upon receiving it, when we keep that notariety focused on ourselves instead of genuinely giving God all of the credit.

On a side note, I wonder if the person in the following passage would have looked back at the Scriptures after they'd been written and thought, "Hey, how come not more was written about me?" The NLT makes it sound particularly mundane: "Then Jehoahaz prayed for the Lord’s help, and the Lord heard his prayer, for he could see how severely the king of Aram was oppressing Israel. So the Lord provided someone to rescue the Israelites from the tyranny of the Arameans. Then Israel lived in safety again as they had in former days." (2 Kings 13:4-5, NLT, emphasis mine)

Just as God can use difficult circumstances to bring honor to Himself, He can, indeed, use people in positions of influence and fame to do the same. Have you ever backed out of something or decided not to move forward with something because of the fear of personal recognition?

"Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves." - 1 Peter 2:3 (NLT)

Read more »

Prostituting Ourselves

Moving a little further with yesterday's post, Preston's comment about fame being a motivator for pastors, preachers, and other Church leaders (whether or not that was the original motivator) is actually the situation that originally brought the post to mind.

In Judges 8, the account of Gideon is wrapped up. God has used him and a small contingent of men to defeat the Midianites, and afterward the Israelites ask him to be their ruler. Gideon responds by saying, "No way! The Lord is your ruler." He attempts to do something good by having the people donate all the gold earrings and such that they plundered from the Midianites, and from them he makes a gold ephod, a ceremonial apron for the priests. The implication is that this will continually enable the Israelites to remember how God defeated their opponents. Here's the short story of that ephod:

"Gideon made a sacred ephod from the gold and put it in Ophrah, his hometown. But soon all the Israelites prostituted themselves by worshiping it, and it became a trap for Gideon and his family." (Judges 8:27, NLT)

This is not an uncommon story, and it's a situation to which many Christ-followers fall prey. As we focus on the things we do, they and our motives can both easily become corrupted. The daily, continual pouring out of oneself to God and the pouring in of His Spirit is an absolute necessity for the Christ-follower. I find that a continual examination of my motives is necessary, as is a continual request for God to purify my motives and all I am.

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
    test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Point out anything in me that offends you,
    and lead me along the path of everlasting life.
Psalm 139:23-24 (NLT)

Read more »

What Makes Famous People Famous?

"Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves." (Philippians 2:3, NLT)

"Normal" people typically want to be close to famous people. You know, touching Roy Orbison's shoe while he's onstage, meeting Michael Crichton at a book signing event, that sort of thing (you may insert a situation with your favorite famous person to make this a little more personal). Many times the reaction in the presence of these kinds of people is stammering, an increased heartbeat rate, a sense of awe, etc.

Why is that?

I believe that we primarily consider people to be "famous" not because they're seen by millions of people, but because they've achieved a recognition and status in the eyes of others that we wish, deep down inside, that we'd achieved.

I'm not saying it's wrong to be a fan of, say, Wayne Newton, but if we didn't attach any particular status to what we did, would we still look at famous people with awe?

Read more »