“Want To Be Famous? Who Needs Hollywood!”
by Rev. Ron Mahler
by Rev. Ron Mahler
Have you ever flirted with the idea of what it would be like to be famous? I will bet at some point or even at different times in your life, and in mine, that fame and sometimes the fortune that comes with it – has danced on the heart of our ambitions. There is just something about “being famous” that is extremely enticing to human beings. I would even surmise that our appetites to grab the limelight and the world’s spotlight have increased enormously in the last decade or two. Reality TV has made many people famous, and sometimes for entirely dubious reasons! Our culture’s latest rage and lust for fame (and let’s be honest, for fortune too) has been realized through all the sordid, “tell-all” books that are being written by the quasi-famous - and which are filling the shelves of bookstores. As people, though we may not like it on us, we sure love to read about someone else’s dirt! As a western culture we are obsessed with, as the late pop-artist Andy Warhol put it: our “fifteen minutes of fame.” Speaking of books, recently I came across a great one, entitled: “The Call” by Os Guinness. It is a profoundly blunt read. Despite the fact that the book cannot be qualified as a new-bestseller, or “fad” book, it nonetheless remains a very contemporary and “right-on” treatment of our societies’ search for meaning, in a world deaf to God’s call on our lives. In terms of our culture’s fame-intoxicated temperature, Guinness remarks, “Formerly...heroism was linked to the honour of accomplishment. Honour was accorded to the person with some genuine achievement, whether in character, virtue or wisdom...Today, however, the media offers a shortcut to fame – instantly fabricated famousness with no need for the sweat, cost and dedication of true greatness. The result is not the hero but the celebrity, the person famously described as “well known for being well-known.” Could a statement ever be more-timely than this one? I know I could think of several people in the entertainment world right now, or in the “sphere” of the famous – and inquire of them, “And just why are you famous??”
In 1 Thessalonians 1, Paul the apostle let the church in Thessalonica know just how – in a word - famous they were, to the surrounding regions in which they were situated geographically. In the first-century, the world was a small place – and for all the Thessalonian believers knew – as a church, the whole world literally was “their stage.” And Paul gives us the simple and yet spiritually penetrating answer as to why they were famous. It had nothing to do with celebrity, or media “coverage” from throngs of paparazzi. The reason they were well-known – was a result of their “faith.” In 1 Thess 1:7, Paul writes, “As a result you became an example to all believers in Macedonia and Achaia...in every place reports of your faith in God have spread...For people everywhere report (note the present-ongoing tense of that Greek verb) how you...turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God...” What a commendation! Talk about being famous for something of substance and virtue! That, in the first-century pagan world was a bonafide accomplishment! If I am reading the newspapers right – fame can be fleeting as much as it can be deflating at times. Susan Boyle, the British reality-TV singing sensation, said recently that she has found her rise to fame to be “crushing.” Whether some find fame to be expediently lucrative and self-serving - or not, I think we should consider being famous for far different and even greater reasons. Imagine how wonderful it would be - if as a church body (for the sake of argument – Highland Lakes Community Church) we would be considered “an example” to the Highlands, as a result of our “faith” in God? Imagine what impact could be made for Jesus if people could see a heavenly spotlight on us (not to be confused with a halo), all because we have lived as Jesus would have us - and consequently, lives were “turning from idols to serve the living and true God,” in Minden!? Talk about fame! Talk about tell-all books! We need to tell all about The Book – but also live it!
