Fame

Everybody wants to be known.

Bev and I recently returned from a whirlwind tour of Southern California. I spoke at a church retreat and then we drove down the coast to San Diego. We stopped off for a while in Hollywood.

The Walk of the Stars, Hollywood Boulevard, Rodeo Drive, the studios, and all the time looking for someone famous. We all have that inner drive to be recognized and influential. Whether it's a reality T.V. show or a talent contest we want our 15 minutes of fame.

Everybody wants to be known.

Our culture seems to be obsessed with a desire to have a life outside the routine of our daily existence. "If more people know of me than the more significance and fulfillment I will have." There is nothing wrong with wanting to be appreciated but when that desire becomes an idol than the world and people around us become commodities.

I can't help but think that is part of our problem in marriages today. Schedules, kids, diapers, jobs and the demands of life are not as glamorous and recognized as those in the media. We can somehow feel cheated and envious. Life is hard and that surreal world of T.V. and movie screen can seduce us into believing there is a better life to be offered in this world.

"Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world - the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions - is not from the Father but is from the world." I John 2:15,16

The gospel is primarily about living in a broken world not utopia. Jesus has come to give what the world can never give. His death and resurrection have given us a recognition by the highest of all audiences. God himself has unashamedly adopted us as his children and one day the world will be envious. That should be enough to stop us from looking to the world but instead keep our eyes on Jesus.

But...everybody wants to be known.

May God help us this day in our marriages to walk humbly before God and our spouses and may Jesus be center stage for all the world to see.