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Fame and Popularity Are Overrated
Luke’s account of the words of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount records Jesus telling the audience, “Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers to the false prophets” (Luke 6:26). Jesus would know! When He entered Jerusalem for one of the last times before He was crucified, He was welcomed with honor, with Matthew describing this where “a very great multitude spread their clothes on the road; others cut down branches from the trees and spread them on the road” (Matt. 21:8), and those who went before Him and those who followed cried out, “Hosanna to the Son of David! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ Hosanna in the highest!” (Matt. 21:9). These same people would be among those who would, just days later, cry out, “Let Him be crucified!” (Matt. 27:22) when Pilate asked what should be done with Jesus. Popularity is fleeting, indeed.
Concern for what other people think or might do will cause us to do some strange and, sometimes, terrible things. Social media has shown us, in the last decade or so, that an unhealthy desire for fame and just simply to be “liked” by large numbers of people [most, if not all, who are complete strangers] is not good for one’s mental health, and has led to some terrible actions. Now, it seems that a generation who has been raised without a moral compass or a moral standard have no hesitation about doing whatever they can to draw attention to self, in the false belief that it will make their life better. It does not.
Especially when it comes to matters of spiritual or religious subjects, this is a dangerous path to follow. Literally. Jesus tells us there are essentially two paths we may take in life, one where “wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it,” or the one where “narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matt. 7:13, 14). Many choose that broad way because it is the most popular and, well, they want to be popular! The end of the path is never considered, or at least never taken seriously, and some even tell themselves, “There is safety in numbers,” as if truth and what is right is determined by popular opinion.
Some begin walking that ‘popular’ path simply because they fear what men may do more than they fear what God will most certainly do. When the parents of the blind man who was healed by Jesus were questioned by the religious leaders, they would only tell them, “He is of age; ask him. He will speak for himself” (John 9:21), and John then tells us, “His parents said these things because they feared the Jews, for the Jews had agreed already that if anyone confessed that He was Christ, he would be put out of the synagogue” (John 9:22). In this case, their desire to be associated with the unbelieving was stronger than their desire to acknowledge the truth.
On another occasion, after Jesus had entered Jerusalem as noted previously, it was said, “But although He had done so many signs before them, they did not believe in Him” (John 12:37). But then we read a bit later, “Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him” (John 12:42). If I stopped right there, it would be reason to rejoice at reading such news, but we cannot stop there; John goes on to write, “but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God” (John 12:42, 43). How sad! These rulers had seen the evidence and had been convinced, but they sought the approval of men more than they sought the approval of God and, because of this, would not confess what they believed to be true.
In light of these past two examples, let us not forget the words of Jesus that are entirely applicable here: “Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 10:32, 33). A refusal to confess our belief in Jesus as the Christ will only result in Jesus denying us before the Father in the end. Not good!
With these things in mind, let us consider some helpful suggestions about how to go about life, focused more on what God and Christ think, rather than what someone else thinks. Remember, Jesus Christ will decide your eternal fate — not any man.
Don’t worry about how many people like you. I imagine the crowds were impressive on that day when Jesus entered Jerusalem; most would have gathered from that scene that Jesus was one to be highly honored! But that honor did not last, and whatever honor we may receive from men today will be just as fleeting. It is generally the case that people will like those who speak the words they want to hear, and dislike the ones who speak words they do not want to hear. As disciples, it is inevitable that we will have to speak words that are unpleasant to hear — if only the simple truth “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Rom. 3:23). How many people “like” you is irrelevant. We should think more like the apostle Paul, who revealed that his aim in life was “to be well pleasing to Him [God]” (2 Cor. 5:9); it is God’s approval we should be seeking.
Don’t worry about how many people don’t like you. Every disciple should know that they will never be ‘popular’ amongst the worldly-minded if they are living as God would have them live. Jesus warned the apostles shortly before He was taken away to be crucified, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you” (John 15:18). In fact, John wrote, “Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you” (1 John 3:13), and that was an admonition to all disciples. Just know that being a Christian means it is certain you will not be liked by many. Just remember which path “many” are taking, and find comfort in the fact you are not walking that path, too.
Don’t be overly concerned with how big your congregation is. Unfortunately, a desire for being ‘accepted’ within a local congregation’s community is a problem in some places, and only because the members are overly concerned about it. Many churches measure their ‘success’ only by the number of people who happen to attend the Sunday morning assembly, and do not concern themselves with the spiritual condition of the people filling the pews. Let us not measure ‘success’ by numbers, but by whether we are doing what God wants us to do, and living as God wants us to live. The numbers will take care of themselves.
Don’t be overly concerned with how little your congregation is. On the other end of the spectrum, we find those who are constantly fretting over the ‘smallness’ of their congregations; some megachurch leaders even ridicule small churches and act as if smallness is in itself a sign they are doing something wrong. Let us be reminded only eight souls were saved in Noah’s day [out of possibly 3 billion], and only Joshua and Caleb and their families entered into the Promised Land [out of 1.2-3 million]. Being few in number, though, does not testify to one’s standing before God, whether good or bad. It is what it is.
So, let us not seek popularity and fame among men. Remember the words of James: “Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God” (Jas. 4:4). Let us in all things desire God’s approval above all, and not worry about how many people ‘like’ us. — Steven Harper
