Here’s what Peter Keating, reporting on ESPN’s fourth annual World of Fame 100 issue, wrote about fame or popularity.

“You’ll find that our index teaches some basic lessons about the nature of fame. For instance, fame isn’t a virtue. It’s hard to say who the first self-created superstar was — Babe Ruth? Machiavelli? The serpent in the Garden of Eden? Sadly, would-be celebrities have long figured out that notoriety can be its own reward. Athletes become famous for their excellence, sure, but also for their arrests, charitable causes, contract disputes, and love lives. A list such as the World Fame 100 isn’t about the athletes who are best at their jobs; it’s about who draws the most eyeballs.”

Many of those on the World Fame 100 never learn to handle their fame properly. You only need to look at what happened to former NBA star Dennis Rodman’s life to see how fame or having the most eyeballs isn’t a virtue. Oswald Sanders calls this “the perils of leadership.” In his book Spiritual Leadership, he lists the dangers of pride, egotism, jealousy, popularity, infallibility, and indispensability.

Eternal Investments

Jesus’ popularity grows in the first chapters of Mark. People from Galilee and beyond flock to see Him heal and preach with authority (Mark 3:7–9, 20, 32; 4:1). If Jesus had been a “celebrity” instead of a servant, He would have catered to the crowds and tried to please them. Instead, Jesus chose to withdraw from the larger group, which was mostly insincere and shallow. He focused His time on the disciples, who were twelve ordinary men, and established a “new nation.”

The Kingdom Coach and Athlete don’t allow fame or popularity to control their lives. They wisely step away from conflict or crowds when it hinders their mission.

Bible Memory Verse – “There is nothing outside the man which can defile him if it goes into him; but the things which proceed out of the man are what defile the man.” Mark 7:15 (LSB)

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