American Idols:
Contestant #2- "Star Wannabe"
Ecclesiastes 1:11
We are continuing our quest to discover America’s #1 ‘Idol’ tonight! If you were here last week, you’ll remember that we interviewed "Ben A. Workaholic" who is our 1st contestant for the coveted title of "America’s #1 Idol" and he related to us how he sought out meaning and fulfillment in his work. Certainly Ben isn’t alone in that endeavor. Millions of people in our country have set work/ job/ career above everything else in life- even God- and placed it as the central ‘idol’ in their lives. Perhaps for that reason, alone, Ben deserves to be awarded the title of "America’s #1 Idol."
But before we vote, there are five more contestants to meet ... all hoping themselves to be named ‘THE’ American Idol. Tonight, let me introduce you to contestant #2 ... "Star Wannabe!"
... Interview with Star ...
Meet: “Star Wannabe”
Jim: Good evening, ‘Star’. Welcome to “American Idols”
Star: Thank you, Jim. It is just lovely to be here!
Jim: Tell me, Star, that is a beautiful name you have- where did it come from?
Star: Well, Jim, ever since I was little girl all I’ve ever wanted was to have my name in
lights! I’ve wanted to be the biggest star in the whole world! Bigger than Brittany
Spears! Bigger than Madonna! Bigger than ... {short pause} Martha Stewart!
Jim: Oh, well that is quite ambitious.
Star: That’s right! I’d look up into the sky at all the stars and my daddy would sing to me,
“When you wish upon a star...” And, so that’s where my name came from. He
started calling me ‘daddy’s little star.’
Jim: Well, it seems to certainly fit! Let’s talk a little bit about your goals in life.
Star: Oh, that’s easy- my goals in life include having a fabulous modeling career- I want
my face on every magazine cover in America by the time I’m old and washed up–
you know about 30.
Then, I hope to parlay that into a successful acting career. I’d like to work with
Coppola, with Spielberg, you know, only the best! I want my name up in lights!
Jim: Yes, you mentioned that. All right, we’ve talked about your goals, what about your
priorities in life. What’s important to you?
Star: Well, Jim. I’d say that what is important to me would be . . . having my name in
lights! Of course after I’ve made a name for myself in Hollywood, I want to begin a
line of cosmetics and help others look as beautiful and glamourous as I do! You
know, give back a little bit to the underprivileged.
Jim: That’s certainly admirable.
Star: Thank you. One mustn’t forget about the little people.
Jim: Sure! Well, I believe we’ve covered your goals and your priorities . . . let’s talk a little
bit about what motivates you. I think our people are interested in knowing what
drives you?
Star: Oh, that’s simple! I want to see my name in lights!
Jim: Yes, I believe you mentioned that.
Star: Oh, but I don’t mean just ANY lights! I want to people to hear the name ‘Star
Wannabe’ and know that I’m the most popular woman in the world! Bigger than
Hillary Clinton! Bigger than Cher! Bigger than Liz Taylor! And that’s BIG!
Jim: Yes, it certainly would be.
Star: I suppose that’s what drives me, Jim. Who doesn’t want to be famous? Who
doesn’t want millions of devoted fans? Who doesn’t want people to love and adore
them? Don’t you think they’ll like me, Jim? {concerned & insecure}
Jim: Oh, yes. Certainly. Everyone will love you . . . once they know you.
Star: {happy & content at Jim’s reassurance} Yes, they’ll love me! They’ll really, really
love me! Oh, I’ve just got to win this!
Jim: Okay, well, Star- I know many Hollywood stars have found fame to be empty,
meaningless ... what do you have to say about that?
Star: Oh, its just because they weren’t BIG enough stars! How could somebody NOT find
satisfaction and joy in being followed by hundreds of paparazzi and people interested
in every detail of your private life?
Jim: If you become a big star, don’t you think people prying into your personal life will be
intrusive and bothersome to you?
Star: Oh no! I’ve got nothing to hide! Why? Don’t you think they’ll be interested? {sound
insecure}
Jim: Oh yes, I’m sure they will. Well, let me conclude our interview by asking you, in your
own words, why do you believe that YOU should be America’s #1 idol?
Star: Jim, everyone wants to be loved, admired and respected by others and there are
millions just like me who LIVE for it!
Before we evaluate Star’s interview, let’s remember just a little bit about idols that we brought up last week.As we talked about this morning in our study of the Ten Commandments, the 1st & 2nd commandments state: "You shall have no other gods before me." & "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them!" An idol doesn’t have to be something physical like a golden calf in order for it to draw one’s allegiance away from God- it can be anything. The REASON God demands NO idolatry among his people is that he knows about our inclination to get distracted in our devotion to Him. He knows we have a tendency to place either things we can see, feel & touch or things that are important to us over and above our allegiance to Him. And He won’t have it! God demands our total attention and devotion! And ANYTHING that threatens to distract us from Him, can become an idol and MUST be removed from our lives! Ben (last week) represented the idol of ‘work.’
But, Star has a different problem . . . she isn’t so much consumed with her work as she is the "fame and glory" that she believes will bring her satisfaction and meaning in life. Can some of us relate to Star’s pursuit of fame & glory? Who hasn’t desired to "see their name in lights?" If we’re not careful, we can let THAT become an ‘idol’ in our lives-- Fame, glory, public recognition, honor. But we know those things are fleeting and ultimately hold little meaning, right?
No day perhaps illustrates this more than the morning of August 5th, 1962. The great American icon, Marilyn Monroe was found dead from an apparent drug overdose at her Brentwood, California home. Some believe the overdose to have been suicide, some believe it to be accidental. Others believe it to be the result of conspiracy or murder. Regardless, Monroe’s death stands as a testament to the futility of FAME.
Born Norma Jeane Mortenson on June 1, 1926 in a Los Angeles hospital, her mother Gladys listed her father as ‘unknown.’ She grew up being bumped back and forth from her mother (who spent much of her time in psychiatric hospitals) to close friends. She spent several years in foster homes and even spent several years in an orphanage. Though her childhood wasn’t easy, she longed for something more; something better.
She recalled later as she and Jane Russell signed their names in the cement in front of the Chinese Theater in Hollywood, "I want to be a big star more than anything. Its something precious."
Become a big star she certainly did! What began as a part-time modeling stint shooting pin-up posters during WW II soon blossomed into a full time modeling career and an eventual movie deal. She made some 30 pictures over the course of her short career and became an American icon– probably the most recognizable figure in the world, even today!
But her life is a testament to what happens too often in Hollywood . . . & a life spent in meaningless pursuit of fame. Her life, tattered and torn by three divorces, countless affairs, drug addictions, and her career in major decline- ended tragically amidst empty bottles of pills in very unglamourous circumstances at just 35!
She had said of Hollywood’s ‘fame’ machine, "Hollywood is a place where they’ll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul"
The refrain from the wise old Teacher of Ecclesiastes comes to mind again, "Meaningless, meaningless, meaningless! Everything is meaningless!" He, too, had sought after meaning in any number of areas like M.M. and he, too, had found very little to satisfy, very little ultimate meaning in those places. He knew what it was like to have everything (fame, fortune, power & public recognition) and still be empty and alone, unhappy.
Eccl 6:1-6
1 I have seen another evil under the sun, and it weighs heavily on men: 2 God gives a man wealth, possessions and honor, so that he lacks nothing his heart desires, but God does not enable him to enjoy them, and a stranger enjoys them instead. This is meaningless, a grievous evil. 3 A man may have a hundred children and live many years; yet no matter how long he lives, if he cannot enjoy his prosperity and does not receive proper burial, I say that a stillborn child is better off than he. 4 It comes without meaning, it departs in darkness, and in darkness its name is shrouded. 5 Though it never saw the sun or knew anything, it has more rest than does that man-- 6 even if he lives a thousand years twice over but fails to enjoy his prosperity. Do not all go to the same place? (NIV)
If the Teacher of Eccl. is King Solomon as it has traditionally been understood, HE certainly would have understood about honor, fame & public acclaim! He was the KING of Israel! He was the wisest to ever rule! His riches were unsurpassed! And he was known & respected by everyone! He had everything his heart could desire, but failed to enjoy his prosperity. They are meaningless, he says! In contrast to someone who has received all of this (wealth, possessions & honor) a stillborn child -who has never owned a thing, who has never had an opportunity to make a name for himself- is better off, he can say! Because we all go to the same place . . . as pessimistic as it sounds, it is true: We all die! So, what meaning is there in seeking after these things?
Like M.M., too, he knew what it was like to seek after honor, Fame or public recognition.
Eccl 1:11-14
11 There is no remembrance of men of old, and even those who are yet to come will not be remembered by those who follow. 12 I, the Teacher, was king over Israel in Jerusalem. 13I devoted myself to study and to explore by wisdom all that is done under heaven. What a heavy burden God has laid on men! 14 I have seen all the things that are done under the sun; all of them are meaningless, a chasing after the wind. (NIV)
"There is no remembrance of men of old" . . . The Teacher knows that FAME and RECOGNITION are fleeting -- nobody remembers those men of old! So seeking after fame & recognition is ultimately meaningless- like ‘chasing the wind.’ Would we even know of King Solomon today, if it weren’t for the Bible?
Consider this little exercise for a minute: Are these names familiar to us? Michael Collins, Frances Perkins, Jim Thorpe, Andreas Gruentzig, Christiaan N. Barnard? These individuals all lived in the 20th century and all left an indelible impact not only in their fields, but in the world! But do we even know who they are?
Michael Collins was a crewman on the Apollo 11 mission that was the first to walk on the Moon in 1969. But most of us (who have come later) don’t recognize his name -perhaps because it was Neil Armstrong who took the first step. But Armstrong wouldn’t have gotten there without the rest of his crew!
Frances Perkins’ name may not be as familiar to us as Susan B. Anthony, but she was an incredible pioneer of women’s rights issues in the first half of our century. At a time when many states in our country were still two years away from extending women the right to vote, she was named the Secretary of State for the state of New York by then governor, Franklin D. Roosevelt. A little later she was appointed to national office- to be the Secretary when Roosevelt assumed the Presidency. Unheard of in the 20’s & 30’s!
Jim Thorpe, some of you may have heard of. If I asked you who the greatest athlete of the 20th century was- you might name Michael Jordan, or Mohamed Ali. But if I had asked you that in the 1940’s, you’d have named Jim Thorpe. In 1950 he was named the greatest football player & greatest athlete of the century by an Associated Press poll of over 400 sportswriters around the nation. Thorpe was an Olympic athlete, a professional baseball AND football player. In 1920, he helped found and promote the American Professional Football Association which later became the NFL. But how many of you, who aren’t sports aficionados, knew that?
What about Andreas Gruentzig? I suspect few of us know who he is, yet his work has directly impacted the lives of many of you! Many of you are still here today because of him! He pioneered, tested and performed the first human angioplasty procedure in the mid 70’s. In a day when it is becoming more and more commonplace, its hard to realize that before 1974, the procedure was not only considered risky & extremely dangerous- it was just unheard of!
Or Christiaan N. Barnard? In 1967 he performed the world’s first heart transplant.
But fame is a fleeting thing; EVEN for folks who left an indelible mark on their world like these individuals! That’s not even to mention folks who’ve lived in previous centuries or millennia! "There is no remembrance of men of old", the Teacher says.
What about this? What do: George Clinton, Richard Mentor Johnson, William Rufus King, John C. Breckinridge, Hannibal Hamlin all have in common? What about Nelson Rockefeller, Walter Mondale, Dan Quayle, Albert Gore, Jr., Dick Cheney? Okay, now you’ve got it.– they all held the SECOND highest office in our land! Vice President. But who remembers their names today? Who will remember the names of recent V.P.s in another 100 years? Of Presidents even?
"There is no remembrance of men of old ..."
In 100 or 1,000 years who will be able to tell you who Steven Spielberg, Harrison Ford, Madonna or Michael Jordan are? So, why go in search of Fame & public recognition? What do we hope to get from it all? What does it DO for us? Why do we desire it? Indiana Jones, when asked why he was always in search of lost & hidden treasures replied un-apologetically, "fortune & glory, fortune & glory." Is that what WE’RE after in life?
One example in Scripture that I can’t get away from is found in Gen. 11- the story of the Tower of Babel.
1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As men moved eastward, they found a plain in Shinar and settled there. 3 They said to each other, "Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly." They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves and not be scattered over the face of the whole earth." 5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower that the men were building.
6 The LORD said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other." 8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel-- because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth. (NIV)
Here, the building of this great tower was ultimately rooted in human arrogance! "Come, let us make a name for ourselves!", the people cry! And because of this arrogance, God causes great confusion to come upon them. Do we ever set out on an endeavor, ‘to make a name for ourselves?’
What does this look like in Lincoln County? I realize that most of us probably don’t lay awake at night dreaming of careers in Hollywood . . the glitz and glamour. . . so what does this look like where WE live? Don’t we still seek after the same things?
Answer for yourself some of the following questions:
How much effort do you put in to trying to influence what people think of you?
How often do you worry over what others think of you?
Have you ever told a little white lie in order to make yourself look better? Or told a story with the details adjusted to portray yourself in just a little brighter light than you otherwise would?
Have you ever gone to an event just to ‘be seen’?
When you do something special for someone else, do you prefer for them to know it was from you, or do you prefer to remain anonymous?
When you fix your special casserole for the church fellowship, do you put your name on it so that you get your plate back, or so that everyone will know it was you who prepared it?
Perhaps these questions help us frame this subject a little closer to home.
How did Jesus view the pursuit of FAME & public recognition?
Its helpful to note that Jesus (the Son of God whose mission was to draw people unto himself) did NOT strive for notoriety or public acclaim! Of all the people who ever lived, who more than Jesus DESERVED public acclaim & recognition?
1. In Luke 5:12-15, he shunned the crowds, not even wanting people to know who he was!
While Jesus was in one of the towns, a man came along who was covered with leprosy. When he saw Jesus, he fell with his face to the ground and begged him, "Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean." 13 Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" And immediately the leprosy left him. 14 Then Jesus ordered him, "Don’t tell anyone, but go, show yourself to the priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing, as a testimony to them." 15 Yet the news about him spread all the more, so that crowds of people came to hear him and to be healed of their sicknesses. (NIV)
"Don’t tell anyone!" he said. Jesus’ time had not yet come and he preferred to remain anonymous! It wasn’t that he didn’t want people to come to him for salvation, but simply a recognition that he didn’t want to attract hordes of people for the wrong reasons! The fact that so many left him when he ultimately went to the cross is evidence that many were following him NOT because they were devoted to him, but because of what he could do for them! How many, I wonder, clung to Marilyn Monroe’s coat tails because of what she could do for them? During election years, notice the number of politicians who buddy up to the President or other popular figures . . . compared to other times. With fame comes a certain amount of danger . . . the danger of people desiring to be close to you for selfish reasons.
2. Back in Luke 4, Jesus returned to his hometown of Nazareth (after word about him had spread all over the region and his popularity was increasing).
14 Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. 15 He taught in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. 16 He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read. (NIV)
He went on to read from them a passage from Isaiah and proclaimed to them that HE was the fulfillment of the prophecy. At first they liked what he was saying. He was their hometown boy, after all, but public opinion polls soon shifted! And as he continued preaching ...
28 All the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this. 29 They got up, drove him out of the town, and took him to the brow of the hill on which the town was built, in order to throw him down the cliff. 30 But he walked right through the crowd and went on his way. (NIV)
But the rejection by the people never deterred him! He simply moved on! He wasn’t motivated by ‘being liked’ or accepted!
He wasn’t about winning acclaim & public recognition! He was about winning souls!
31 then he went down to Capernaum, a town in Galilee, and on the Sabbath began to teach the people."
3. Jesus condemned those who sought after the praise of men more than the praise of God.
John 12:42-48
42 Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in him. But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; 43for they loved praise from men more than praise from God. . . .
47 "As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save it. 48 There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; that very word which I spoke will condemn him at the last day. (NIV)
The Pharisees (often condemned by Jesus) again are described as loving accolades from men more than approval from God! Perhaps this is why some of them are described in Matt. 6:5 as hypocrites who pray standing in the synagogues or on the street corners so that they’ll be seen by men! No concern about God! Jesus says of them, they’ve already gotten their reward– being seen!
Meaningless! Meaningless! Meaningless! Everything is Meaningless!
"There is no remembrance of men of old ..." & the prospects for the future aren’t any better! "Even those who are yet to come won’t be remembered by those who come later!" And it doesn’t seem to matter who you are or what you do! You could be the wisest or the most foolish! The Teacher says in 2:16, "For the wise man, like the fool, will not be long remembered; in days to come both will be forgotten." From those in the public eye like Jim Thorpe, to those who served in the highest of offices like William King, to those who pioneered the final frontier such as Michael Collins to those who effected lasting social change in our culture like Frances Perkins if you’re banking on FAME & GLORY to provide you satisfaction, you’d better look somewhere else. If you’re banking on the regard and acclaim of people to bring you satisfaction & meaning- you’d better look somewhere else! Its not there to be found! If you’ve ever made ‘what others think of you’ over & above your desire to please God– you’d better begin looking somewhere else!
Is ‘FAME’ THE American Idol? I’ll leave that for you to decide. We have four more candidates to talk to over the next few weeks . . .
But let’s conclude tonight once again with the concluding words of the wise old Teacher. While he looked for meaning in life in various & sundry places . . . he DID find it in one place . . . in fact it is the only place where true meaning and ultimate satisfaction is to be found.
Eccl 12:13 Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole [duty] of man. (NIV)
God is the ultimate source of meaning, because he is the source of life itself!
He created us in His image. Who more than He knows what we need . . . not only physically but our emotional and spiritual needs as well? Who better than God knows what fills us? What motivates us? What will make us happy in life? The testimony of His Word: it isn’t to be found in work, or in fame, or in any other ‘idol’, but only in relationship with Him.
Do you have such a relationship? Are you in His will, tonight?
Or are you searching for meaning in other places? Tonight, take a look in the only place you’ll really find it!
