For a long time, as a child and as a teenager, I wanted to be famous. First it was for being a singer, then it was for being an actress, then it was just for doing whatever I could do to be in the spotlight. As I sang into my hairbrush or practiced monologues in front of the mirror, I fantasized about people knowing me everywhere I went, signing autographs, being the VIP of parties, having a mass of adoring fans, dodging paparazzi, shaking hands, smiling for millions of photographs, and, of course, living in a beach-side mansion.
After a while, these dreams changed, or maybe they just faded away. I don't really know. But either way, I accepted the fact that this was probably never going to be what my life entailed. Eh, whatever. I'm not that photogenic anyway.
Then, I met Jesus about 2 & 1/2 years ago and realized HE was the only One worthy of the fame that I longed for in my younger years, and so much more. I wanted to dedicate my life to furthering His fame among every tongue, nation, and tribe. Thus came the World Race.
Little did I know that, as a 23-year-old missionary in India, I would finally attain the elusive "celeb status".
This blog has been a bun in the oven for a while, so let's rewind to the third day we were doing village ministry. In the two days before, we had been to a total of six church services of various sizes, and had prayed over what seemed like hundreds of people. So we were all pretty tired, but still excited to see what the Lord had for us this day. Now, having been in Asia for almost three months, we were used to people taking our pictures and wanting to take pictures with us, like paparazzi. Thanks to our first few days in India, we were also no strangers to random people, mostly children, coming up to us wanting to shake our hands, and at this point, we were coming to terms with the pastors of churches bringing chairs in and insisting that we sit in them, even though everyone else was on the floor. We felt like the VIP, and it was awkward.
This day, though, the celebrity status got taken to a whole new level, to the point where the kids were asking us for autographs and people were taking our pictures, instead of paying attention in church. It might not sound like much, but it got to the point where I was feeling extremely convicted about something as little as writing my name on a piece of paper. It sounds harmless, right? It's just a simple token of remembrance from the time Americans came to visit their village. As I fought the internal battle of whether to just sign the silly pieces of paper or not, I became so overwhelmed by the hustle and bustle and the distraction from the word of God that was being shared, I was almost in tears.
I began to ask myself, who did I want these people to remember seeing that day: Jesus or team Holy F.I.R.E.? Who were they actually going to remember seeing that day: Jesus or team Holy F.I.R.E? Who are they worshipping: Jesus or team Holy F.I.R.E.? Who was the most well-known celebrity there that day: Jesus or team Holy F.I.R.E.?
I knew in my heart that, if they weren't already, the answers to these questions were quickly becoming the answers I didn't want. As a missionary and a follower of Christ, my deepest desire is to proclaim the name of Jesus to the nations and make Him known among His people. Here I was, during a church service in India, detracting attention from just that. For me, that was just completely unacceptable.
So, I decided to oblige the children and kept signing autographs for each one that came up and asked me. But, instead of writing my own name, I began writing the name of Jesus. I didn't care if these people remembered me or my name, I just cared that they remembered the name of our sweet Savior. There was no reason for them to remember me; I had nothing to offer them but Jesus and He is the one that could offer them everything. He should have been the famous One.
It turns out that the celeb status that I dreamt about for so long isn't all that it's cracked up to be. In all actuality, like the rapper Lecrae says, I can (and prefer to) play the background. BUT, when my day comes and I wake up glory, I'll be more than happy to receive the beach-side mansion in Heaven's paradise.
