SuperStar-dom Christianity

As I was walking into the hospital for some quick blood lab work just a couple of days ago, I spotted my reflection in the window and the thought crossed my mind, “Do they have any idea who is coming through the door?”

The thought grabbed my attention for several reasons:

1. Do I know who it is that is coming through the door? How well do I know myself?


2. Am I someone that the people in the hospital SHOULD know? If so, why? What is it that I possess/know/do that they would WANT to know me?


3. Why would they want to know me? What will they gain from an encounter with me?

Funny how the “I” became such a central focus of my thinking.

My thoughts ran ahead of me and scampered on down the timeline of life to my headstone and questioned me. “Do you REALLY think that you can make a difference in a city of a million people, in a state of over 5 million people, in a country of over 300 million people, on a planet of over 6 BILLION people?”

They continued to press me, “Do you really believe that after 100 years of living on this planet (most of those years absorbed by sleep, eating, figuring out what you’re called to/want to do with your life) that after 20 more years, you’ll even be remembered?”

Ouch!

Nancy Ortberg, in her book “Looking for God”, states that it seems like the church has adopted the “Superstar approach“ and adapted it to the local church ministry. We hear about the life-change of celebrities, sports stars, political figures and more. But what about the people like one lady I’ll call Phyllis who spent the majority of her life caring for an ailing father right up to his death bed. Who spends her time praying for people like my family and our ministries and serving ”behind the scenes“ doing attendance for church and Sunday school? What about them? There are - I guess - millions and millions of these silent saints, quiet servants and pillars of God’s Kingdom (maybe not viewed that way in the local church, but there are lots of things viewed differently in the churches than the way God sees them. But I digress.)

Back to my original thought...

When I realized that my lone presence on this planet for the past 51 years hasn’t created any significant historical changes (at least for the record books), the next thought brought me back to reality and, with it, peace.

I’m NOT SUPPOSED to be the focus of my life - or anybody’s life. JESUS CHRIST is supposed to be the focus. So, if I do my ”job“ correctly, I will leave people behind who are more focused on Jesus because of their interaction with me. It may be small or grand in scale, but the purpose of my life is to lessen and for Jesus to increase. My shadow should dim throughout my life as His darkens. My words should fade as His sharpen. My voice should hush as His shouts.

Stink! Just as I thought I was getting this figured out, I realize that I’m still way too self-centered (read SELFISH!) and not nearly enough Christ-centered in my thoughts, words & deeds.

Oh well, Lord willing I’ll have another 50 years to ”get it right!”