A Thought on Fame and Influence

Where is the one whose power was displayed

This past week I had the opportunity to serve an experience in Ghana, Africa called GhanaFest. It was put on by the two great organizations CreationFest and the Reid Saunders Evangelistic Association. The organizations joined together to put on a festival in the capital city Accra in Independence Square. It was an incredible setting and phenomenal experience. While there I had an interesting discussion with an artist named Dominic Balli (amazing reggae-rock) that I havent been able to get out of my head. We discussed the idea of fame as it relates to a Christian. Much of the following originated with our discussions.

I do not believe that human beings were created for fame. By fame I mean that the central concern of the individual is to further ones own brand based on their talent, appearance, or something else. On the other hand some have fame bestowed upon them without ever seeking it out. Whether fame is sought or bestowed upon someone is not my concern in this entry. My friend Darren Whitehead says that fame is toxic for the soul, it will spiritually destroy you.

I do believe we are to seek influence. This of course begs the question, what is the difference between influence and fame? I would like to answer this question with two more questions:

Question #1: Fame asks, what does my future look like if I focus on me?

Question #2: Influence asks, what does my future look like if God gets his way?

I know these two questions may seem a bit over simplistic but in reality their answers are incredibly revealing. The answer to Question #1 is inevitably self-centered, arrogant and self-defeating. The answer to Question #2 is inevitably gospel-centered, servant minded, and uses ones influence to further the mission and movement of God. In short fame is self-worship and influence leads others to become worshipers of the Famous One Jesus Christ.

By Brent Crowe (Twitter)