Purpose

Famous & Faithful

As I’ve previously written, Nicole Richie once quipped that it was only in America that you could become famous for being famous. Fame – once the province of actors and athletes (and previously artists and scientists) – has come to the masses. And it’s not just in America! A study released last year showed that 54% of 16 year-olds in the United Kingdom indicated that their future career plans were to “become a celebrity.” Perhaps even more disturbing, 20% of these teens indicated that they would accomplish this goal by being a contestant on a reality show.

 

An infatuation with fame wasn’t always so defining. Teddy Roosevelt once stated that it was “better to be faithful than famous” and many would agree that he had the equation right. After all, few care if their friends are famous when they find themselves in need. Similarly in a good marriage it’s our spouse’s faithfulness and not their renown that is the focus of our concern. Faithfulness is often what distinguishes a good employee from bad, a reliable friend from an acquaintance, and a celebrated spouse from a despised one. Unlike fame, there seems to be a dearth of faithfulness in our culture.

 

The irony for the Christian is that God desires faithfulness and fame. Faithfulness in this life, and fame in the next.  And it’s our faithfulness in this life that secures our fame in the next.

 

This is a hard equation to master. After all, we tend to think that as long as we aren’t doing anything “bad” we’re doing what God wants. God, however, doesn’t just call us to “not do bad,” He calls us to do His will. It’s in doing His will, in doing the best things as opposed to just the good ones, that acclaim in Heaven is achieved. Additionally, the  greater our eternal fame, the more crowns we have to lay at His feet. In other words, the more that we are able to honor Him – for eternity.

D.L. Moody, when hearing the news of his granddaughter’s birth, telegraphed back, “May she become famous in the kingdom of Heaven. [That] is the prayer of her grandfather!” That should be the prayers for not only our progeny, but for ourselves as well. We should pray that we would faithfully live out God’s calling in this life, that we would obey His Word, love His children, and do His bidding, so that in the next life, our renown would be great. Not for our own sake, but for the sake of His glory, and His eternal fame.

 

Who do you know that lived faithfully in this life in order to achieve fame in God’s kingdom?

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Growth

(Re)Memory Problems

Many years ago I was working out at my apartment when I got a call from a friend. “Where are you?” she asked. “At my apartment” I innocently answered. And in the pause that followed, suddenly it hit me – I was supposed to meet her for dinner! As we were meeting over an hour away, there was no way for me to redeem the gaffe and make it to our appointment.

It was one of the first, but certainly not the last time that I realized that my memory is not what it used to be. In the past, I could keep my appointments in my head and be on time, if not early, for all of them. Now, I find myself leaving post-it notes, electronic reminders, and voice-mail messages for myself if I want to remember things that I’m supposed to do. It could be that I have more things to remember – and I’m pretty sure that’s at least part of it –  but sometimes I long for the days when everything was stored in my internal memory bank, when I could readily access that things I was supposed to know.

However, I’m not the only one that’s prone to bouts of forgetfulness. Throughout Exodus and Deuteronomy we see that the people of Israel regularly forgot the things that God did for them and what He promised them.  We read passages like Deuteronomy 28:1-14 and we see the many blessings that God longs to pour out on them if they will walk in His ways. Yet, we know from history that it won’t be long before they are doing what they want rather than what God says. We may wonder how the Israelites could have ever gone astray after the clarity with which God spoke to them. The blessings of their right actions (i.e. obeying Him) and the consequences of their wrong actions (i.e. sin) were made abundantly clear. Over and over again, God commands them to “remember” – yet they didn’t. They didn’t remember what He had done or the words that He had said – at least not in any way that influenced their action. Because they forgot or neglected their relationship with God, His promises ceased to be as powerful for them. And so they were led astray.

I, too, can “forget” what God has done and the promises that He has made, and this often is the cause of my own sin. I neglect to remember that I will give an account – that there will be consequences for my actions. I forget the faithfulness of God, seize “control,”  and follow my own desires rather than His.

The solution of course is to remember – to remember what He has promised, and Who He is. I need to cling tightly to the promises of God, knowing that He “is not slow” “as some count slowness” – but that He will make good on what He’s promised (2 Peter 3:9).  I need to give thanks when I do remember, knowing that even this is an act of His grace.  I need to be assured that diligent obedience to Him will have a reward – either in this life or the next. And I need to remember that standing before Him, hearing “well done, my good and faithful servant” will be a moment I won’t forget.

 

 

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