Famous

So I recently sat down and talked with a man who deals with major
ministry ‘personalities’ on a weekly, if not daily, basis. In front of
us was a Christian magazine with one of the most influential and
famous ministers in the U.S. on the cover.

We talked about ministry, pastoring, evangelism, and the Church. We
discussed how small churches who want to make a lasting difference in
their communities are to respond to the “big box churches” who are
doing a much better job than them. We talked about a lot of things.

But as we stared at the magazine during our conversation, I realized
that I wanted to be like the ‘mega star pastor’ on the cover. But then
I realized something else- that the non-Christians sitting around us
at Starbucks had no idea who this magazine-cover pastor was. The only
people who knew who this pastor was, were Christians- particularly
pastors!

And, I wondered with my Starbuck’s friend; “What’s the point of having
all sorts of Christians know about you anyways?!” Had I been desiring
to be a Christian celebrity?! For years I had dreamed about being the
pastor who was invited to speak at Christian conferences- I still do-
but I realize that speaking to thousands at Christian conferences
entitles…speaking to Christians!? And while I want to help
Christians grow and advance in their faith, my (our) primary concern
is to speak, to preach, and to teach the Gospel to those who are lost.

So the question in my mind that popped up, that I asked my friend,
was; “Are their any pastors or Christian leaders within our nation,
who are not famous only amongst Christians, but non-Christians as
well?” After all, the best place that we can leverage our notoriety
for the Gospel, is not amongst Christians, but amongst non-Christians.
If people are looking to us- if we ‘had the favor of all the people’
like the early Church in Acts- for advice, and entertainment,
teaching, and etc..then we could use that fame and notoriety as a
platform to preach the Gospel. And while pastors, myself included, are
trying to find ways to be famous within the Church world, maybe we
should start looking for ways to become famous in the real world.

There’s a few leaders I can think of that have gained some notoriety
in the real world that are making a difference for the Kingdom: Rick
Warren, Joel Osteen, Bono, John Maxwell, and Tony Dungy are a few of
those, but most of their ‘Christian influence and notoriety’ still
takes place within the Church. What if there were modern day prophets
like Daniel who could greatly leverage their fame and notoriety to
influence a nation for the Kingdom? Is it happening?

What about on a city-wide smaller scale? Are there any leaders in your
community who the community knows about-not just the Church- who are
using their notoriety to spread the Gospel and influence their region
for Christ? If so, I want to know!

I want to start dreaming and instilling dreams in the hearts of young
Believers about how we can become mighty influencers, not of just our
churches ( which do need to be influenced), but also our lost world.
That would be something worth giving your life to.