Have you ever heard the following statement: “you can be anything that you want to be?”
Is this true? _______________
Where did you hear this statement? ___________
Most of you would agree that we’ve heard this statement from our teachers at school. The truth is, for generations we have been feeding this idea to our youth. The problem is that it sets them up for failure and for depression.
It makes it seam like everyone can be rich and famous! For example, most of you know that I love to sing for the Lord, but all of us would agree, that I am not a gifted singer. Therefore, grooming me to be a professional singer would be leading one to destruction. Therefore, I find the statement: “you can be anything that you want to be” false and misleading.
Today, multitudes of people are seeking celebrity status. Many of them are using social media outlets for opportunities. On the other hand, individuals are also seeking celebrity status in their communities.
They want to be known of people.
They want to be approved of people.
Many people think having a multitude of friends makes them important.
They believe that being popular equals happiness and relationships.
Folks, this ideology is not completely our fault! We have been taught this. We need to allow God and the Holy Spirit to bring us out of this mentality.
Did you know, From 1967 to 1997, the top values promoted on children’s shows were being kind, helping others, and being part of a group? – we could Think: Sesame Street.
In 2007 after Facebook and YouTube were really taking off the top value promoted by kids shows was fame and being famous. We could Think of the programs: Hannah Montana, iCarly, and American Idol.
And why wouldn’t kids be attracted to being famous, to becoming celebrities?
Celebrity promises to meet one of our deepest human needs.
1. The desire to be known,
2. to be respected,
3. valued,
4. celebrated.
To be a celebrity is to be celebrated, celebrated by many more people than you could ever know. Celebrated by more people than you could ever celebrate in return. And therein lies the problem: too much of a good thing can be bad for you.
Our text today is: 1 Corinthians 3:4-9
4 For while one saith, I am of Paul; and another, I am of Apollos; are ye not carnal?
5 Who then is Paul, and who is Apollos, but ministers by whom ye believed, even as the Lord gave to every man?
6 I have planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
8 Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.
9 For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building
Two thousand years ago, a Jewish man named Paul wrote a letter to a small community of people living in an ancient Greek city called Corinth.
These people were dealing with the same problem that we’ve been talking about. The ancient Corinthians had their own version of a celebrity culture. As their community was coming together, they started to get sucked into divisions.
One subgroup said, “I follow Paul,” the famous guy who had started their community. Another subgroup said, “I follow Apollos,” the local celebrity who star had risen after Paul had left Corinth. Now, Paul hears about this and he writes them a letter, the letter now called 1 Corinthians.
In the letter Paul addresses the problem. He reminds them that no human being can meet their need, but only God, their Creator.
Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 3, “What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, servants through whom you came to know God and trust God each as God gave. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”
See, human beings can’t give us what we need, because human beings in relation to God aren’t givers. We are receivers. Only God is true Giver. What could we give that we didn’t first receive from God as a gift?
At our best, we can re-gift. We can pass on God’s gifts. At our worst, we get puffed up as though we were the source of our gifts and accomplishments and virtues.
And then we collapse under the weight of our own gravity and become so inwardly curved that we cut ourselves off from God and the rest of the universe like a black hole.
In Paul’s letter to the Corinthians, he references the story of the Bible. It’s the story of the Creator who loves what He has made and loves to give good gifts.
God created human beings to be conduits of God’s gifts, to be gifts with gifts to share. But we got all puffed up. We pursued super stardom, so God showed us that the way up is down. God came down into the hole. God’s Son, God’s Word, the Giver of all gifts came down. He had Himself delivered to us in a human container, in human form.
Jesus became human, and He lived for us. He was crucified for us. He took our baggage, our deepest depression, the lowest place.
In our celebrity culture people long for the old days when things were different. But we’re the old days different? Yes, modern mass media has changed our expectations of knowing others and being known by them. But our core human problem is no different now than it was thousands of years ago. The core problem is that we expect humans to give us what we need: for example, asking for a selfie with them! We are looking for our own fans and friends for recognition! We think being seen with the celebrity will bring us more fame.
You can trust God because Jesus turns celebrity on its head. Celebrity personas are known by more people than they could ever know in return, but Jesus already knows everybody intimately and can be known by them. He knows you and can be known to you. So let Him take your hand and pull you through whatever hole you’ve made for yourself, back to life, back to God.
We do not need celebrity status, because we need God. We do not need a star on the ground in Hollywood. I think even a couple dogs, Rin, Tintin, and Lassie have a star. Billy Graham might even have a star, but it’s more important that we have our celebrity status recorded in the lambs book of life.
Worldly fame lead to destruction, but God‘s plan of salvation is secure.
Please pray with me, Lord Jesus, take our warped longing for celebrity and give us intimacy. Give us life together with You, with the people in our local church, with the people in our household and neighborhood, so that everyone would know You, even as they are fully known by You. Because You live and You reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, One God now and forever. Amen.
