The Temptation of Fame
Read: Matthew 4:5-7
I am writing this toward the end of the COVID pandemic—at least I hope it is ending. I recall a number of people who claimed that they did not need a vaccine, because God gave them an immune system. Those same people wore glasses even though God gave them eyes. Some religious figures, yearning for fame and influence, told us that they did not need the vaccine because they “had Jesus,” effectively daring Jesus to protect them. And then they promptly died. Despite what they had read in the Scriptures, they did not learn that God does not enjoy being made into a spectacle.
They double-dared God to protect them, put Him to the test, and then He rebuked them as publicly as they tried to exploit Him.
A couple of decades ago, I succumbed to this temptation. Someone said my writing had great potential and that I could become a best-selling fiction author, if only I sent him a stack of my writings and $800. He promised to review what I had written, to suggest edits, and to introduce me to various publishers, with whom he claimed to have good relationships. He was offering me a shortcut to fame. I was rational enough to realize that it seemed to be too good to be true, so I consulted my father, who—blinded by paternal affection—thought the offer might be real. After some painful back-and-forth with the fraudster, my father ended up very embarrassed, and I ended up $800 poorer.
Much later on, I started this website, not with the fiction I had written, but with Christian devotions. Then I then fleshed out the website with reference information, until it became the website it is today. If I have estimated its size correctly, it would be a three-volume set in print. There were times that I ran up against my own limitations and began repeating myself, so I had to take breaks from my writing. Am I famous? No, even though people in unexpected places have recognized me by my work. It goes to my head, but I lie down for a while, and it goes away. However, as I have aged, and I hope also matured, I have become content with my writing, and I have sought approval from God rather from the denizens of the internet. Of course, God doesn’t send me flattering emails, so I can’t get swell-headed from His fan mail.
Jesus was tempted the same way that I was, but before I get grandiose about having Jesus as a comrade-in-arms, I am stopped short by remembering that Jesus saw through the same temptation right away, didn’t fall for it, and didn’t lose $800.
I don’t believe that the devil physically transported Jesus to the pinnacle of the Temple, not because I don’t have faith in miracles, but because I don’t have faith in the devil. He owns nothing, he has nothing to give, he cannot keep his promises, and he has no power whatsoever. He is only a boastful windbag. I think he only tried to make Jesus visualize being on the pinnacle of the Temple, but it doesn’t matter. Either way, it was an unsuccessful attempt to deceive Jesus, and that’s the point. Unlike us, Jesus knows that temptations are illusions. The devil is powerless before Christians who can see through his deceit and simply shoo him away in Jesus’ name.
I had to learn it the hard way, but Jesus saw through the devil’s fraud right away.
Prayer
Lord God, Father of my Lord Jesus Christ, I confess that I messed up, pure and simple. I fell for the fraudster who temptated me with an easy path to meaning in life. There is no easy path, and perhaps there is no path at all, but teach me to be faithful and content in my failfulness. Please forgive me, remind me of my commitment to myself and to you, and strengthen my resolve, even if my work is shrouded in obscurity. It is from you alone I must seek the meaning of my life, not from people. Approval from the world passes away, but approval from you lasts eternally. Please forgvie my sin and put me on the right path. This I ask in Jesus’ Name, because He lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit.
Amen