I've been thinking this week about fanship, that is, following after famous people--and autograph lines specifically. I'll explain. I watch the Olympics like most people (although I'm not a real sports fan), and I heard one athlete talking about how it's important to him to give his autograph to every fan who asks, because he remembered a time when he was a child and his favorite celebrity refused to give him one. He was crushed by that and never wanted to do it to someone else.
Only a few days before I saw that interview, I went to a Christian concert, and of course, went through the autograph line. That experience was good, but it reminded me of a time years before when I went for an autograph at a Christian concert and walked away with sadness and heaviness in my heart.
That concert in my childhood happened only two days after a tornado tore through my hometown, leaving behind thousands of homeless people and several dead. People came to the concert looking for hope and refreshment in the middle of that horrible time, but the Christian artists (names withheld for good reasons) fought openly on stage (especially after one member stumbled on his lines) and were cranky with fans afterward. One member spoke condescendingly toward me about giving me his autograph before the concert. After the concert, I learned, he turned people away rather brusquely when they asked for it. Another member scowled and grunted at people when they asked for his autograph, and kept his back turned to the one who had made the mistake.
I'd been a huge fan since their first album, ten years prior, but by the end of that concert, I wondered if the autographs I'd gathered were truly worth the paper they covered. Billed as top Christian music artists, they didn't offer an outstanding, loving, Christian attitude to their loyal fans. The world may enjoy the diva attitude, but I have a very hard time accepting it from people who claimed they weren't like the world.
That night left a lasting bad taste in my mouth. It also challenged me. If I ever get that famous, I pray that God will keep me humble, and help me always to remember Jesus' words:
"But when you are invited, take the lowest place, so that when your host comes, he will say to you, 'Friend, move up to a better place.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all your fellow guests. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted." (Luke 14: 10,11 NIV).If each of us only had ten seconds with a total stranger, would that other person know more about our Savior when the time had passed? What if we had ten minutes? An hour? An evening?
"The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks." (Luke 6: 45 NIV).Concerning the latest Christian music concert I attended, I don't know the people personally who performed that night, but I did get the impression that they desperately wanted to challenge their fans to follow Christ--their lyrics testify to that, and their "ten-second interview" backed up those words. In fact, this group has been together as long as the other one had, yet I saw evidence of a servant's heart in each of them--from the fact that they missed their wives but felt led to spend the weekend away from them ministering in God's service, to the way they considered each others' feelings even in the way they arranged themselves in the autograph line (boldest first, to break the ice for the shyest one), to the humble way they accepted compliments from their fans.
So, in the upcoming week, or even this weekend, I challenge you to think about your ten-second interviews. What do they say about you? What do they say about Jesus? Do people know that you serve Him, even if you don't get a chance to speak about Him directly?
3 comments:
This is a good essay Rachel. Yes, it is very important to know what message are we sending in even few seconds that we come in contact with others. I remind myself how many times Jesus Christ mentions about his father in heaven when he prayed or spoke to the public because he was listening to a different drummer. He always lived his life for the glory of his father and so should we live a life for the glory of our Lord.
This is a good essay Rachel. This makes me think how important is each time when we come in contact with others and wonder what message are we sending.
Jesus Christ always lived to speak about the father in heaven in his prayers and his public speeches as he knew it is very important.
Thanks for reading, Kamal! I'm sorry I didn't see your comments until this afternoon. My computer has been broken for almost two weeks now, so I'm borrowing another. That means I keep forgetting to check my email and moderate comments! But comments do bring me joy. :)
Responding to what you said, yes, you are right to first look to Jesus as the best model for our behavior--humbly obedient to the Father, and never failing to bring glory to Him. When we submit ourselves to God, we let Him change our hearts, so that we no longer have to put on an act to obey Him. His ways become natural, so suddenly we are glorifying God in word and deed at all times, as Christ did, even when we aren't thinking about it. When I look back over my life, I'm so thankful that I know a God who takes broken things and makes them well. He makes it so easy to obey Him!
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