Fame, Celebrity and Glory

Fame to the ambitious is like salt water to the thirsty. The more they get, the more they want. Madonna, who at one stage was probably the most famous woman on the planet, said, ‘I won’t be happy until I am as famous as God.’

For some young people today their ambition is to be famous. In the past people wanted to be famous for doing something. Now, celebrity has become an end in itself. It has attained god-like characteristics. Not only do people want to be famous, they idolise those who have achieved celebrity status. This widespread interest in famous individuals has been described as ‘the cult of celebrity’. It is a prominent social phenomenon of Western popular culture.

Celebrity, fame and glory are often thought to be synonymous. However, celebrity and fame are only a pale reflection of true glory. ‘Glory’ is used in the Bible to denote the manifestation of God’s presence. Glory is one of the most common words in the Bible. God’s ‘glory’ means his importance, reputation, majesty and honour.

Perhaps it is not surprising that as society moves away from worshipping the glory of God, it turns towards the worship of the ‘glory’ of celebrity and fame. We are called to worship God’s glory and reflect it, however imperfectly, in our lives.

1. Seek God’s glory, not your own

Psalm 26:1-12

David writes, ‘God, I love living with you: your house glows with your glory’ (v.8, MSG). King David was a ‘celebrity’ in his own right (see 1 Samuel 18:7). Yet he did not seek glory for himself, rather he gave glory to God. He ends the psalm by saying, ‘My feet stand on level ground; in the great congregation I will praise the Lord’ (Psalm 26:12). He led the people in giving glory to God.

David wanted to reflect the Lord’s glory in his own life. He tried to lead a blameless life (v.1). He trusted in the Lord without wavering (v.1b). He tried to keep his heart and his mind pure (v.2). He wanted to be guided by God’s love and truth (v.3). He avoided getting too close to people who might bring him down: ‘tricksters’; ‘thugs’; ‘gangsters’; ‘double-dealers’ (vv.4–5, MSG).

Although he says, ‘I lead a blameless life’ (v.11a), he goes on to say, ‘Deliver me and be merciful to me’ (v.11b). He must have been conscious that, although he was trying to live a sinless life, he did not always succeed and needed God’s redemption and mercy. Rather than claiming to be sinless, David is declaring that he is living a life of ‘integrity’ (v.1,11, AMP), that is sincere and whole-hearted for God.

Other kings at the time might have expected the people to worship them at the ‘cult of their celebrity’. But David was a worshipper of the Lord. He writes, ‘I ... go about your altar, Lord, proclaiming aloud your praise and telling of all your wonderful deeds. Lord I love the house where you live, the place where your glory dwells’ (vv.6–8).

For the people of God in the Old Testament, the temple in Jerusalem was the place where God’s glory could be found. In the New Testament we read of a new temple where God’s glory dwells. His presence is in a person. Jesus is that temple (John 2:10,21). The glory of God is supremely revealed in Jesus Christ (John 1:14).

Further, the amazing truth is that God’s glory also dwells in all people who are trusting in Jesus. Both individually (see 1 Corinthians 6:19) and corporately (see 1 Corinthians 3:16) the people of God are seen as God’s temple in whom the Spirit dwells: ‘Being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit’ (Ephesians 2:22).

Lord, thank you that your glory dwells among your people. Lord, I love the house where you live. I will proclaim aloud your praise and tell of all your wonderful deeds.

2. Spend time with Jesus and reflect his glory

Mark 9:2-32

Peter, James and John caught a glimpse of the glory of God when he was transfigured before them. The transfiguration came, not coincidentally, just after Jesus had asked the disciples ‘Who do people say I am?’ (8:27). It revealed Jesus’ divine nature as the Son of God.

The curtain of time was drawn aside and the disciples saw Moses (representing the Law) and Elijah (representing the prophets) clearly alive and alongside Jesus. The disciples would have known all about Moses and Elijah. In the Judaic world, these men were the ultimate celebrities. But God is saying that Jesus is even greater than these two revered men.

When the disciples look again, they see only Jesus (9:8). Peter, James and John saw what Jesus will look like on the day when he will come again and we will all see him in his glory.

The word used for ‘transfigured’ is the same word as is translated ‘transformed’ when the apostle Paul writes, ‘And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed [transfigured] into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit’ (2 Corinthians 3:18).

Celebrity today is often about fame and seeking publicity. Jesus did not seek publicity; rather the opposite. He ‘swore them to secrecy. “Don’t tell a soul what you saw” ’ (Mark9:9, MSG).

Celebrity is also often associated with wealth and a luxurious lifestyle. In the life of Jesus,suffering and glory are inextricably linked. The moment he comes down from the mountain he explains to his disciples that ‘the Son of Man must suffer much and be rejected’ (v.12). Jesus’ ‘celebrity’ and ‘glory’ was of a different kind to that which the world expects, then and now. 

One thing Jesus did share with ‘celebrities’ is that he drew a crowd (v.14). ‘As soon as all the people saw Jesus, they were overwhelmed with wonder and ran to greet him’ (v.15).

In spite of the disciples’ extraordinary experience of the glory of Jesus at the transfiguration, they do not have the faith necessary to heal the boy with an evil spirit.

Jesus says ‘Everything is possible for him who believes’ (9:23). The world says ‘I need to see first, then I will believe’. Jesus says ‘Believe first, then you will see’. St Augustine wrote: ‘Faith is to believe what we do not see. The reward of faith is to see what we believe.’

Jesus heals the boy without any great ceremony or even, in this case, the laying on of hands. There is no drawn out battle but the simple power of the command of Jesus.

Again we have seen a glimpse of the glory of Jesus. Again he goes straight on to speak about his suffering, ‘The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men. They will kill him, and after three days he will rise’ (v.31).

Lord, thank you for the remarkable combination of glory and suffering that we see in your life, death and resurrection. Help me today to spend time in your presence and to reflect your glory in everything I do and say.

3. See the troubles of this life in the light of an eternity of glory

Exodus 39:1-40:38

David caught a glimpse of God’s glory when he entered the temple. The disciples caught a glimpse of God’s glory when Jesus was transfigured before them. When we gather together with the people of God we should get a glimpse of God’s glory.

When they had finished building the tabernacle (‘The Dwelling’, MSG) (which precedes the temple) the cloud covered the Tent of Meeting and ‘the Glory of God filled The Dwelling’ (40:34, MSG). Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud had settled upon it and ‘the Glory of God filled The Dwelling’ (v.35, MSG).

The Glory of God was tangibly powerful at that moment. It could actually be seen ‘settling’ in the tabernacle. The Hebrew word for settling (shekinah) is often used today to describe a particularly powerful or tangible sense of the presence and glory of God.

The cloud above the tabernacle, which represented the glory of God, accompanied the people of God in their travels and led them by day and by night (Exodus 40:36–38) as the Holy Spirit of God now leads us. This is the Old Testament background to the cloud in the story of the transfiguration. What Peter, James and John experienced on that occasion was a glimpse of the glory of the Lord (Mark 9:7).

Through ‘the gospel that displays the glory of Christ’ (2 Corinthians 4:4) we can all get a glimpse of the glory of God. ‘For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ’ (v.6).

It is only a glimpse and one day we will see the reality itself. The apostle Paul said that this is why we should not lose heart even when we are going through difficult times: ‘For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all’ (v.17).

Lord, thank you for every occasion when we get a glimpse of the glory of God. Thank you that you are preparing us for the moment when you will reveal your full glory to us. Help us to see the struggles of this life in the perspective of ‘an eternal glory that far outweighs them all’.

Psalm 26:1–12

This psalm is attributed to David. I was interested that verse 1 says, ‘I have led a blameless life; I have trusted in the Lord and have not faltered.’ I wish I could say the same, but I know my life is far from blameless and there have been lots of wavers. The trouble is we know that David’s life wasn’t blameless. Either he was doing very well and then got himself in a real mess, or he wasn’t doing quite as well as he thought he was. In verse 11 he says, ‘Be merciful to me’. David knew he needed God’s mercy, and I do too.