I never saw that guy after that, but lately, I have seen a myriad of teens with aspirations of becoming famous. It is so real to them, that they have no other plans in life.
I have also seen reality T.V. shows where fame is the goal and the only goal for a myriad of untalented (and rarely talented) people. My sister and her husband are good friends with one of the couples from the show called "The Bachelor". She tells me that fame is the obsession with the bachelors and bachelorettes.
From what I see on T.V. and the internet, I would say that fame as a goal in life has become an epidemic in this nation. Every year, thousands of people move to Hollywood, New York or Nashville in hopes of becoming famous. The vast majority of these people will never experience their dreams.
The opportunities have widened since I was younger. You no longer have to have any skill to be famous. And, you no longer have to be part of the inner circles or in the families of famous people. If you are in the right place at the right time, you can be a reality T.V. star. You can put out your own YouTube video and find fame. You can write your own music and with a common computer produce your own song, and with enough auto tuning even some bad singers can sound pretty good. You can be one of hundreds of thousands who compete in American Idol or a dozen other music shows.
When I was young there were 3 T.V. channels; now there are hundreds. Even so, there is only so much fame to go around. If everybody is famous, then no one is. By nature, fame has limited access.
And to top it off, by nature, fame is short lived. Many people find temporary or a good shot at fame only to watch it quickly die. As the saying goes, "Everybody has their 15 minutes of fame".
CHRISTIAN FAME
There are also Evangelical avenues to fame that are available now that were not as common when I was younger. Evangelicalism has produced its own subculture which includes its own fame. Book writers, musicians, speakers, and T.V. preachers are all given opportunity to become famous in the Evangelical world. Any one of these can pack out a large arena and make loads of money (although, I must warn all fame seekers that many of these famous Christians have a whole lot less money than you would think).
WHAT DOES BIBLE SAY ABOUT FAME THAT IS GOOD?
In his day, King David was a rock star who was famous not for throwing rock concerts, but for throwing a rock at a big man. The teenage girls - his fans - lined up in Jerusalem streets to cheer, and to admire him. The famous people of his day were not in the entertainment industry, they were in the war business - they were warriors and rulers.
The book of Judges is filled with famous Hebrews who started armies and led into battle.
Joseph, Deberah, Solomon and Daniel were famous beyond Israel for their wisdom.
Esther was celebrated for her beauty and for saving her people from an arrogant attempt to destroy Israelites. She entered an ancient beauty contest and for winning she married the most powerful man in the world - at that time.
Barnabas found fame, access into the inner circle of the Apostles, and new work when he donated his property to the Apostles for distribution among the believers.
Hebrews 11 mentions a bunch of people who were famous for their faith as well as for their accomplishments. Some were rejected by the world; but others were famous in both realms.
The Bible celebrates these people, their fame and their accomplishments.
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT FAME THAT IS NOT GOOD
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever (1 John 2:15-17).
Fame (the attention this world gives) will pass away and be gone forever. Good deeds in obedience to God and following God are eternal. For that reason, we are not to seek after fame, but to seek after God.
For this next example, I need to explain that seeking fame and seeking attention are the same, except in seeking fame, one hopes to get the attention of many rather than a person or two or three. When people are famous, they get a lot of people's attention. Fame seekers want a lot of attention. There are several examples of attention seekers in Genesis.
Reuben slept with his step mom in order to shame his dad who unjustly gave attention to the youngest brothers. Reuben was the oldest and should have been the brother to receive attntion. The other brothers sold Joseph into slavery and almost killed him for the same reason.
Cain killed Abel in order to get God's attention. There is a lot of info that can be gathered from Cain, which could fill books, but I will limit it. Cain teaches us that:
1. People can get competitive in the area of spirituality.
2. When people seek attention, competition can get ruthless.
3. Abel got God's attention by doing something right and well.
4. Cain sought God's attention and got it (not in a good way) through murder.
Cain and Abel teach us that there is a good way to get attention and there is a bad way. The same is true with fame. There are people who do not seek it but find it because they deserved it. Then there are those who seek it and do evil to obtain or keep it. King Saul got fame with humility and action. Once he had it, he tried so hard to protect it that he became evil and did many evil things.
Even if you get famous in a good way, you can fall into evil (as King Saul did) by trying to hold on to / protecting that fame. Fame is elusive. Very few people will become permanently famous. Most people who are famous will fall out of that fame. With few exceptions, football and basketball players last a few short years and then the honeymoon is over. Most actors and actresses have a few good moments, and sometimes years, when the limelight is on them. Then it is either permanently or temporarily over. King Saul saw his fame and the hopes for his son were receding while David's was growing. To protect his own, he tried to kill David and remove his competition.
You can also do evil trying to protect your famous reputation (as King David did when he killed the husband of Bethsheba). I knew a youth pastor who covered up her pregnancy (she was unmarried) by getting an abortion. She did this because she wanted to protect her good Christian reputation and witness with the kids.
In the book of Esther, Haman spent a lot of time boasting about his fame, using his fame and his power to further promote his fame. When Mordecai refused to bow before him, he sought to kill Mordecai and destroy Mordecai's people. Mordecai is an example of when fame gets to one's head and how evil seeking fame can get.
WHAT'S SO BAD ABOUT CHRISTIAN FAME?
We've already seen in Cain that people can get competitive in the realm of faith. This is no less true in churches and the Christian community. I believe that many of us equate Evangelical fame with strong spirituality. The more famous people are in the Evangelical world, the more godly they are. Even though this is obviously not true, I believe that many Evangelicals wrongly equate Christian fame with deeper spirituality.
When Barnabas sold his property and gave it to the Apostles (for giving to the poor), he became an instant celebrity. He entered the circles of the elite, was treated like any other apostle, and he was given the same responsibilities as an apostle. When Ananias and Saphira (Acts 5) saw this, they too sold land and gave it to the Apostles. However, they lied to the Apostles, telling them that they gave all the money they had to the Apostles, when in fact they had given only a portion to them. Ananias and Saphira were trying to buy their way into Christian fame as Barnabas had done. There was one difference, however. Barnabas was not seeking fame, he was only following the teachings of Jesus.
After Ananias and Saphira died in trying to become one of the elite, the Bible says that no one dared to join them (the Apostles) after that. God was warning the people not to seek fame for fame's sake.
MY CONCLUSIONS
I think there is a lot more to say and a lot more Bible to study, but it's all going to point to the same thing. If you seek fame for fame's sake, it is an evil sin that can cause much damage. There are also many temptations that come with fame which all boil down to the same thing - protecting the fame you have or seek to have.
Despite the huge pitfalls of fame, if you do what is right and you become famous as a result, it is good. Fame is not a sin, the things people do to grasp for fame is evil.
I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances (Philippians 4:11).
When Paul wrote this, he was referring to his roller coaster ride with life, money and possessions. He had ups and he had downs. Paul learned to be content with both . So it is with fame - their are ups and there are downs. Be content with both.
When Paul wrote this, he was referring to his roller coaster ride with life, money and possessions. He had ups and he had downs. Paul learned to be content with both . So it is with fame - their are ups and there are downs. Be content with both.
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