Allusions of Grandeur

I’ve got a few favorite Bible characters. Perhaps you do to. For me, these are the men or women that I set as my role models or heroes. I like Moses and David, as many people do. And I also want to be like Daniel or Nehemiah, who are talked about a little less often. But whoever your favorite Bible personalities are, at least they’re pretty well known. And it’s exactly that fact, that these dudes are fairly famous, that has been kind of confusing for me in my pursuit of spiritual growth.

I mean, these are the people that God sets up for us as positive examples, right? So we ought to try to be like them, right? But does that mean that we ought to be famous or as well known as they were? I don’t really want to think so, but I can’t really get around it either. It’s sort of an odd trick that there’s no Biblical role model who wasn’t at least well known enough to be mentioned in the Bible. And you won’t find any folks in the Bible who aren’t at least famous for being in the Bible.

I’m probably confusing you already. Let me try to put it another way: I’m pretty sure that God’s definition of greatness is not the same as ours. Being tight with God shouldn’t be contingent on social fame, as far as I can figure it. But the problem is that all such people that God gives us as examples are, in fact, quite well known. So how can I try to be like these people without also hoping to be well known?

Or maybe it’s not so bad to want to be famous. I suppose there’s something to be said for the fact that if God is really using you, then you will touch a lot of people. Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden…let your light shine before men…” (Matthew 5, NIV). I guess I’m just afraid of confusing the desire to know and serve God with the desire for fame.

I’ve caught myself in private prayer time saying two similar things, “Father, I want to be a man of God”, and, “Father, I want to be known as a man of God.” So then I have to stop and think to myself…what do I really mean? What do I really want? What should I really say? And what’s the difference? I just haven’t figured out how to hope for greatness with God, that isn’t also hoping for something that would stroke my ego. If that’s so bad.

What do you think?

(and, yes, I know the difference between allusion and illusion. it’s a pun, but I thought it might be a little too subtle to pass as a poignant play on words instead of a misspelling without an explanation.)