This is the time of
year when celebrity worship reaches its peak. If you haven’t the stomach for TV
anymore, you’ve missed these worship services: Golden Globes, SAGs, and Grammys,
with the highly exalted Oscars and Super Bowl Sunday worship services yet to
come.
This adulation of celebrity stems from man’s longing for excellence.
Created to worship, Adam was an enthusiastic spectator of God’s glory. But sin
changed the object of veneration—from Creator to creature: “We will make a name
for ourselves” (Ro. 1:25; Gen. 11:14). Mankind is a worshipper by nature. Enamored with
youthfulness, strength, beauty, and intelligence, his thirst for excellence
is unquenchable.
The sons of Adam search in vain for ‘something’ worthy to worship on this earth. Sadly, many believers are also easily deceived and captivated by these futile fetes. Please understand that I am not saying it is wrong to watch the Super Bowl or the Oscars. But in light of worldly adoration, it behooves us to watch our hearts so we won't unwittingly fall into the worship of celebrity. It's not worth it!
USA Today’s headline: “Families’ wealth dives 39% in 3 years.” Unfortunately, this message, “you are worth less,” will be interpreted by many as, “you are worthless.” Think about the unemployed fathers whose worth is tied to their ability to provide for their families. A few months ago a 36-year-old father killed his children and committed suicide because he was out of work and didn’t want to burden his wife. A few years ago in L.A. a man shot his wife, 5 children and himself, leaving a note that he and his wife had been fired from their jobs.
Now I do know these are extreme cases. But the fact remains. For people who define their ‘worth’ by worldly standards, ‘worth less’ equals ‘worthless.’ Perhaps it is a good time to reevaluate how we are defining worth.
In his book, “The Life of God in the Soul of Man,” 1677, Henry Scougal wrote: “The worth and excellency of a soul is to be measured by the object of its love.” It’s true now as it was then: the price paid for an object establishes its value. You and I were worth the life of God’s Son. Now we are exhorted to “walk worthy” of this great love. People invested in this world are sure to have ‘buyers’ remorse.’ But that will never happen to us if we are investing ourselves in God’s eternal kingdom.
The U.S. presidential campaign got a jolt yesterday when Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen set off a national debate by saying that Ann Romney, the mother of five, had “never worked a day in her life.” The next day Ann Romney tweeted back: “I made a choice to stay home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work.” Is it just another day in the life of American politics, or is it something more? I think the issue of a how a woman defines herself has touched a nerve.
You see, I don’t think Hillary Rosen meant that “mothering” is not work. But Ms. Rosen’s definition of “work” is tied to her sense of a woman’s worth—evidently by paychecks, promotions, and professionalism. Another famous Hillary (Clinton) touched this nerve with her emotionally-charged statement: “I suppose I could have stayed home and baked cookies, but what I decided to do was fulfill my profession.” You can see how these Hillary’s define a woman’s worth—professional fulfillment.
This identity crisis is not new. In 1975, in her book “A Woman’s Worth,” Elaine Stedman wrote: “The American woman remains in crisis. The propaganda designed to incite restlessness, if not revolution, is continually being repackaged to appeal to her insecurities, sense of worthlessness, and covert or overt desire for power...” How prophetic of Elaine. This may seem like just another skirmish in the culture war, but I believe it is more. This issue is a major component of the war against Christian values in America.
“Do not despise small beginnings” (Zechariah 4:10). You may be familiar with this verse without knowing the back story. At the end of Israel’s 70-year captivity, Zerrubabel returned with a small group of Jews to re-build the Temple. It was harder than he expected; he got discouraged. And, people disparaged a structure that would never be as grand as Solomon's. For 12 years, the work stopped. Then the word of the Lord came to him through Zechariah to start again, saying, do not despise small beginnings, or small things.
Our generation loves BIG things—monster houses, mammoth malls, and mega churches. No one talks of doing “small things” for God. We like big, attention-grabbing projects and campaigns. But if we despise (regard as negligible or worthless) small things, we may miss the very thing God is doing around us.
The life and ministry of Jesus demonstrates the significance of small. Born in a small shed, surrounded by chickens, sheep, cows, donkeys—despised things—He would confound the wise. Hailing from the tiny town of Nazareth, with a small group of provincial men from a politically insignificant nation, Jesus changed the world, saying, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you can move mountains (Matt. 17:20). Do not despise small things. That seems to be where God does some of His best work!
A.W. Tozer said: “Before God made man, He first prepared a world of useful and pleasant things for him. But in the deep heart of man was a shrine where none but God was worthy to come, until sin entered, and God was forced out of His shrine, as things were allowed to enter, and take over.”
“Thing” is such an odd word—meaning nothing and everything at once. Miriam Webster says a “thing” is property and belongings, but also ideas and activities. We all have things occupying us. And more to the point, we are painfully aware of the things that force God out of the shrine of our hearts.
We live in a world where we measure our worth by how many things we have and how well we get things done. We value making things or collecting things, but are not shy about throwing things away. We like shiny things and tiny things. We despise useless things. We like to allow things to happen, try new things, shake things up, and set things straight. And we hate it when things fall apart.
When Jesus came to the home of Mary and Martha, He gave them a lesson on “things.” While Mary sat at the Lord's feet, listening to Him, Martha was distracted by her preparations. Telling Him about the “things” she had to do, Jesus said, "you are worried and bothered about too many “things,” when only one “thing” matters; and that's the “thing” Mary has chosen. While Martha was busy doing her thing, Mary had set her mind on things above. Now that is some thing to think about.
When economies are in a recession, the value of paper money goes down. Lately, a growing number of financial experts are cautioning us of a global financial meltdown. And the debt debacle of these last few weeks has shown us all how little it would take for the world’s money system to crash. Thus, many people are buying gold as a hedge against worthless currency. But according to James, in the end times, that will be useless. “Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming upon you. Your wealth has rotted...Your gold and silver are corroded” (James 5:1-2).
In spite of all of this, notice how, after condemning the rich, James counseled believers to wait patiently for the Lord’s coming. (James 5:7-8) He was not only talking to the people of his era, but to ours as well. The uncertainty of world financial markets, when added to the other signs we see, tells us that the Lord’s return for His Church may happen sooner than later.
Do you wonder if Jesus were your financial adviser, what He might say? Well, He has already spoken on the matter. "I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich…” (Rev. 3:18). And what is the gold tested by fire Jesus speaks of? It is our faith, likened to gold that has been fully purified though patience and endurance: “These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold…” (1 Peter 1:7)
This has been a week of contests: the San Francisco Giants defeat the Texas Rangers to win the coveted World Series; Jerry Brown triumphed over Meg Whitman to become governor of California; Barbara Boxer, Gavin Newsom, Harry Reid—all winners! And their opponents—are they all losers? Well, of course no one would say that losing a game or a political competition makes you a ‘loser’—meaning a failure in modern-day vernacular—any more than winning a competition makes you a winner—a person of good fortune and character. Perhaps this is an opportunity to remind ourselves of what really matters in God’s economy.
Perhaps we could paraphrase Jesus words in Matthew 19:30: "many that are winners shall be losers, and the losers shall be the winners." More to the point, Jesus said: “If you try to keep your life for yourself, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for me, you will find true life. And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul?” (Mat. 16:25-26)
Power-hungry politicians or glory-seeking athletes may win the contests of this world but still be losers in the Kingdom of God. And it is all too easy for we who are Evangelical Christians to adapt to this view of winners and losers. Who has never thought to himself that the pastor who has a large congregation and a national radio program is more successful than the pastor with a flock of fifty? In the end “God will open wide the gates of heaven for them,” with the rewarding words: "Well done my good and faithful servant": winners all! (2 Pet. 1:11; Mat. 25:23)
As Easter nears, we are reminded of God’s love for us in the price He paid. I am afraid, however, that many well-intentioned pastors’ sermons will make Jesus’ death more about us than about Him.
There is a popular teaching today that says we should love ourselves. The logic behind this self-love goes something like this: ‘since God loves you so much that He sent His son to die for you, you must be worthy, and you must love yourself.’ Why is this faulty reasoning? God’s love is about God—not about us! There is no greater evidence of God’s nature than the Cross. The unconditional nature of God’s love is this: “God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners” (Ro. 5:8).
Yes, we are the objects of God’s love, but that does not mean we have intrinsic value. A decade ago, you may recall that a prestigious NY auction house sold Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’s personal affects for charity. A hair brush or hand mirror sold for thousands of dollars. The items themselves had no such intrinsic value. But the worth ascribed to them was not based on “what” they were, but “whose” they were. Likewise your worth is rooted on “Whose” you are.
If anything, the Cross reveals God’s worth. “Then I looked again, and I heard the singing of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and the living beings and the elders. And they sang in a mighty chorus: The Lamb is worthy--the Lamb who was killed. He is worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.” (Rev 5:11-12)
