Apples of Gold
Radio Script for July 1, 2008
“Being Famous is the Counterfeit of Being Known”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
How many stars can you name from 1908?
How many great athletes or entertainers or authors from just 100 years ago?
It was a presidential election year. Do you know who was running?
Honestly, the only thing I know about 1908 is that it was the last time the Cubs won a World Series. (If they win it this year, I think we’re starting to see a pattern...)
Now here’s the thing. In 1908 there were so many people working so hard to be somebody, and yet now they are almost entirely forgotten.
Let me go back to when I was a kid, in the early 1970’s. Who were the stars in my little mind? Well there was Wilt Chamberlain, David Cassidy, Muhammad Ali, Johnny Unitas, Lou Brock, Bob Gibson. I didn’t know any authors. I shook President Nixon’s pinkie at a state fair. I saw Billy Graham on TV. And I liked the Harlem Globetrotters with Meadowlark Lemon and Curly Neal.
Now if I walked in my wife’s first grade class and asked about those names, how many do you think the kids would know? Maybe Billy Graham and President Nixon.
Bounce a few names off some kids you know. It will be an eye opener. Ask if they know who Michael Jordan is. As famous as he is, many kids just shrug. The only people they will know are those who are in the limelight right now. Tiger Woods is huge…right now. But can you name a golfer from 1908?
My point is that fame is fleeting. Even if you become the best in the world at something, as time goes by you will be forgotten, and new people will come along and take your place. To become famous is not a worthy goal.
Not everyone wants to be famous. Most people don’t have that drive. But do we all have something in common? I think the common element is the desire to be known. For whatever reason, we want to be known.
To become famous is a counterfeit to becoming known. It seems like it gets you there, but it doesn’t. It doesn’t scratch where it itches.
In their day, everyone knew about Frank Sinatra and Elvis, but did anybody actually know them?
In Jesus’ time we see the Pharisees falling for this counterfeit of being known. In Matthew 25 Jesus said, “Everything they do is done for men to see.” He said, “…they love the place of honor at banquets,” and, “…they love to be greeted in the marketplaces and to have men call them ‘Rabbi.’”
Why did the Pharisees want this recognition? I think it’s the desire to be known. Since that was the goal, they did what it took to meet that goal. And it worked. People knew them as the religious stars of the day.
But being famous is the counterfeit of being known. Underneath their famous surface the Pharisees were hollow. All they had was that fame, and when Jesus threatened it, when He began to peel back their whitewashed surface and reveal the dead men’s bones inside, they panicked. And when they got the chance, they killed Him.
So if being famous is the counterfeit, what is the real thing?
I think it comes in two layers. The first is being known by God. Being known by God is not hollow or fleeting. It’s not based on your poll numbers or recent victories. Being known by God is a solid, real thing.
Galatians 4 says that God knows us. And not only that, He redeemed us so that we would have full rights as His children. He even placed His Spirit in our hearts, and from our hearts His Spirit calls out to Him, “Abba, Father.” He knows us and we are His children and His heirs.
In First Corinthians 13 Paul said, “I am fully known.”
First Corinthians 8:3 says, “…the man who loves God is known by God.”
In Jeremiah 12:3, Jeremiah said, “…you know me, O Lord…”
In Second Samuel 7:20, David said, “…you know your servant, O Sovereign Lord.”
Psalm 44:21 says that God even knows the very secrets of our heart.
Psalm 139:4 indicates that God knows us so well, that He even knows what we are going to say before we say it.
So if there is a desire within us to be known, it is fulfilled in being known by God.
And then there is the second layer, which I think is fulfilled within the body of Christ. It’s the true fellowship that God designed to take place within the church.
James 5:16 says we are to confess our sins to each other and pray for each other. Why would we do that instead of just confessing to God? One reason is that it meets the need of being known. It shreds the superficial and gets down to the real.
Here is where the word fellowship blossoms into its full reality. We become known as we fellowship with God and as we fellowship with each other.
This is God’s design. It meets our needs. It scratches where it itches.
So the root desire is to be known, and that desire is met as we are known by God and known by our fellow believers.
And that desire to be famous? Look at the big picture and I think you will see that being famous is just the counterfeit of the real gift of being known.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2008 The Arrow’s Tip
To subscribe to your own daily “Apples of Gold” e-mail, write dougapple@wave94.com.
If you want to be removed from this e-mail list, simply click reply and type UNSUBSCRIBE on the subject line.
If you want to catch “Apples of Gold” in its original audio format, go to www.wave94.com
To search through the large archive of past articles, go here: http://www.wave94.com/modules.php?name=Stories_Archive
If you have trouble reaching me at my main e-mail address, try this one: douglas_apple@msn.com
(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
-vi-
No comments:
Post a Comment