Shattering Substitutes #1: Status

“But the serpent said to the woman, ‘You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.’ So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.”—Genesis 3:4-6

The Journal of Psychological Research on Cyberspace published an article entitled “The Rise of Fame: An Historical Content Analysis,” that reported the results of a 40-year study of the effects of media on children’s values from 9-11 years old. From the study, scholars were able to deduce the transition of values of children. In 1967, sixteen categories were used by participants denoting what they valued most to what they valued least, which included in order of their importance: (#1) community feeling, (#2) benevolence, (#3) image, (#4) tradition, (#5) popularity, (#6) self-acceptance, (#7) security, (#8) conformity, (#9) self-centered, (#10) achievement, (#11) power, (#12) financial success, (#13) spiritualism, (#14) hedonism, (#15) fame, and (#16) physical fitness. It’s interesting to note that community feeling was listed first with benevolence ranking second. However, over the forty years of the study a dramatic shift occurred, and by the year 2007 fame replaced community feeling at #1, followed by (#2) achievement and (#3) popularity.

What does this study tell us? That kids today care more about being famous and popular than they care about anything else. With the rise of social media and websites such as YouTube, Facebook, Netflix and Hulu, children today don’t care about God, contributing to society, or about who they are as people. They simply want to be known and adored.

Such a study is shocking, but only at first—because, as Solomon wrote, “there is nothing new under the sun”—Ecclesiastes 1:9. Man has always had a desire to be known, to be his own god—to be famous, to be adored, and to be revered. And while such a desire is good in God, it is disastrous in us. God desires to be known, adored, and revered, which is for the good of us, His creation. God makes Himself known to us through His word and His creation. He didn’t have to make Himself known, but did so that He might receive praise. Such thoughts are appalling because who would create something just to receive praise from it? It’s like saying that I have kids because I want them to tell me how great I am. C.S. Lewis addressed such a ludicrous thought:

“The miserable idea that God should in any sense need, or crave for, our worship like a vain woman wanting compliments, or a vain author presenting his new books to people who never met or heard him, is implicitly answered by the words, 'If I be hungry I will not tell thee' (50:12). Even if such an absurd Deity could be conceived, He would hardly come to us, the lowest of rational creatures, to gratify His appetite. I don't want my dog to bark approval of my books”—C.S. Lewis, The Problem of Praise in the Psalms.

God didn’t desire us to praise Him because He needed it. God desired us to praise Him because in our worship of Him, He communicates Himself to us. However, we don’t praise God as we ought; instead, we seek to be praised. We want to be like God. When Satan tempted Eve, he tempted her by making her think that she could be like God: “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

Millennia have passed and it is still true today as it was then. We have no desire to praise God (because we fail to understand the reason for it); rather, we vainly attempt to set ourselves in the place of God because of our desire for praise. We want to be God. We want praise. We want to be adored, admired, and praised. And just like Eve, we substitute our Savior for the desire of our own status. Such views are not simply problematic, but they are blasphemous and the same reason for which Satan himself was cast out of heaven. He didn’t want to worship God; he wanted to be worshiped as God.

The only cure for the desire for status, fame and fortune is to believe in the Lord Jesus. It is by believing in Jesus’ dying that we truly begin to live. We were crucified with Him. Man has desired to climb the ladder of self to be like God, like Eve did. But it ended in utter and abysmal failure. It is only believing in the God who came down,

“who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, He humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”—Philippians 2:6-11.

Shatter the substitute of status by following the example of the Savior! If you attempt to gain the whole world, you will forfeit your soul (Matthew 16:26). Don’t believe in the lie of this world that idolizes status. Follow the example of the humble Jewish carpenter who humbled Himself to die in order that you might live. And remember the words of James: “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you”—James 4:10. Let God be the one to exalt you. Don’t try to exalt yourself; it may lead to earthly fame but it will lead to heavenly failure. Humble yourself in the presence of God and let Him be the one to exalt you in His time. Amen.