Every young child at some point develops a dream to be famous. They want to be an actor/actress, singer, professional athlete, or hero. Something, just something that will make them a household name. That’s the dream. However, at some point that dream is replaced with more realistic ambitions. The drive for notoriety gives way to the desire to do something meaningful and fulfilling while earning an honest and decent living. After all, how many people can actually become famous?
Up until the last decade the answer to that question was relatively few. I mean honestly – percentage wise how many people in this world do something or become someone that earns them even fifteen minutes of fame, much less a lifetime of such? Then entered social media. MySpace, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter – all of these outlets have become hotspots of the instant celebrity. Do something crazy – you may end up on The Tonight Show. Say something stupid – you may get a brief interview on cable news. Society is no longer concerned with talent; it wants the outlandish. Such is a detriment to our desire to see a moral and decent society reign once more. But if one thing is worse than seeing society bending what standards it has left for the sake of instant fame it is seeing Christians doing the same.
Before moving on let me emphasize one thing. It is not a sin to be famous. There have been famous people who have received and maintained their fame while living morally upright lives. No, the fear is in two fundamental questions pertaining to fame in one’s life.
First, what must be done to achieve that fame? Many people become famous because of their athletic ability, their talented acting skills, or their business success. With those variables present we can understand their notoriety. However, more and more men and women, young and old alike, are willing to shed clothes, loosen their tongue, or defy authority for the sake of becoming known. They fail to “remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth” (Ecclesiastes 12:1) or to “prove all things; hold fast that which is good” and “abstain from all appearance of evil” (1 Thessalonians 5:21-22). They refuse to “be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12) and willingly reject the fruit of the Spirit in order to enjoy the works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-23). We cannot afford to compromise who we are as Christians for the sake of fame. After all, “what is a man profited if her shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” (Matthew 16:26).
Second, what must be done to maintain that fame? Whatever must be done to achieve fame must be done or exceeded to maintain that fame. If an athlete becomes famous because of their talent, they must maintain that level of talent to maintain their fame. If an actor/actress achieves fame because of their ability, they must maintain that level of ability to maintain their fame. If a person becomes famous for being vulgar, crude, or otherwise immoral, they will have to maintain or exceed that vulgarity, crudeness, or immorality to maintain their fame. To accomplish that people must blind themselves to moral truth and refuse to examine themselves whether they be in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5). They must be unwilling to repent and turn from their iniquity (Luke 13:3,5) and consciously be willing to eternally die in their sins (Revelation 21:8). Is such worth the torment that is sure to await?
Jesus’s third statement in His Sermon on the Mount was “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). Am I seeking to display that quiet, humble spirit in life or am I seeking fame regardless of the cost. Scrupulously protect your soul so that even if you go through life and no one knows who you are that at the judgment Jesus will (John 10:14; Matthew 7:23).
-Andy Brewer