I Corinthians 4:4 For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.
The Metric of the World
Over 40 years ago, Andy Warhol stated, “In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes.” Well, that was prescient, and that future has certainly arrived. These days everyone wants to be famous and important, and many people think that they are famous simply because they have the media by which to put out their name, voice, or thoughts. We are living in a day consumed with celebrity and people who are consumed with being celebrities. Most famous people today are entertainers. We don’t laud people for what they accomplish, but for how they entertain us.
I Corinthians 4 reminds us that the church cannot succeed if she measures herself by the metric of the world. If we are trying to be important, thought well of, or famous, then we are trying for the wrong things. If you want to be important, don’t serve God; serve yourself. That is exactly what it is when someone sets out to be famous. It’s not wrong to be famous, but as a goal it is certainly misguided.
In I Corinthians 3 Paul addresses people who were driven by celebrity. They followed after Paul, Apollos, or Cephas. Paul says in I Corinthians 3:21,23, “Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.” I Corinthians 4:1 tells us that Paul, Apollos, and Cephas were simply ministers and “stewards of the mysteries of God.”
If we are not careful, we preachers could give the impression, “Don’t worship rock groups or movie stars. Those shouldn’t be your heroes. I should be your hero.” No one would say it that way, but sometimes that is what people hear. They hear that if you want to be important, famous, or significant, don’t be an entertainer; serve God. That is pandering to the wrong passion. I’m not saying we should not have heroes, if you mean that in the right sense of the word. But if we lead people to think that being a Christian celebrity is better than being the world’s celebrity then we are measuring ourselves by the wrong metric. The church cannot succeed if she measures herself by the metric of the world.
Remember, who you are is not as important as Who you serve. If you want to be famous, don’t serve God. Paul and Apollos were simply stewards to what was God’s.
What you have is not as important as what you do with what you have. A steward is not a success because of what he has. What he has is not his; it is the master’s. A steward is successful judged by what he does with what he has. There is no room or reason to brag if all you have is given by God.
We thank God for those who have gone before us. We give them respect, honor, and tell their stories. There is a sense in which they are our heroes, but only God is to be worshipped. A person’s success is not based on how well we regard them, but on God saying, “Well done thou good and faithful servant.”