Fame

In a New York Times interview, Lady Gaga discussed the pain and brokenness she’s experienced in her life as a star:

On being treated as “a commodity” she said: “I also can say with a lot of honesty that, being in the music industry since I was a teenager, some of it is how much you are willing to give away. Things like eating at the dinner table with your family, it never happens. Being in a room by yourself never happens.”

On losing touch with reality, she said: “At a certain point, I just completely lost touch with reality. I was falling so deeply into the fantasy of my artwork and my stage persona that I lost touch… I had psychosis. I was not deeply in touch with reality for a while. It took me out of life in a big way, and after a lot of years of hard work I got myself back.”

The singer-actress says she’s doing better, largely through a relationship with her current fiancé, but she still claims that she’s “kind of at war with myself sometimes as I get ready to, hopefully, become a mom soon. Like, today is wonderful, but the whole day has revolved around me. There’s an incredible amount of narcissism in this. How do I live a life where I’m passionate about my art while also making more space for other things?”

In the classic sports film, Heaven Can Wait, actor Warren Beatty plays a man named Joe Pendleton. He was the star quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams and on the verge of leading his team to the Super Bowl when he is struck by a truck while riding his bike. An overzealous angel prematurely removes him from his body, assuming that he was about to die.

When he arrives in heaven, Joe refuses to believe that his time is up. So, he pleads his case that he needs more time on earth. He successfully argues his point with the overzealous angel’s supervisor, but there’s a problem—he can’t go back into his original body because it’s been cremated. So, they have to find another dead body for him to enter. Lo and behold, there’s this multimillionaire who’s just died, murdered by an unfaithful wife.

Joe comes back to life in the multi-millionaire’s body. Then he buys the Rams so that he can become their starting quarterback and lead them to the Super Bowl. The problem is that his wife still wants him dead. Right before the Super Bowl, he’s shot. The Rams are forced to start the backup quarterback, but during the game the backup takes a brutal hit, and what happens? He dies. What happens after that? Right again. The angel’s supervisor sends Joe into the backup quarterback’s body, and he leads the Rams to Super Bowl victory.

At this point, you’re probably wondering what this story has to do with hope of heaven? The message of the movie is that heaven can wait because it can’t possibly be better than getting what we want right now. Attaining a lifelong dream—that’s heaven! But the truth is when I do get what I want, I find out that there’s something else I want that’s even better.

Jimmy Donaldson, also known online as MrBeast, has become a benevolent YouTube star for his provocative brand of philanthropy. He’s given away homes, cars, a private island, and lots and lots of cash. Usually, it comes with a dark twist: Once, he offered a man $10,000 a day for each day he was willing to live in a grocery store without leaving. In his most popular video, “$456,000 Squid Game in Real Life!” 456 people competed in a game show inspired by the dystopian Netflix drama “Squid Game.” (In the Netflix show, down-and-out contestants play deadly versions of children’s games to win $38 million.)

In March of 2024 MrBeast announced “Beast Games,” and thousands of people jumped at the chance, posting on Reddit threads about the application process and waiting hopefully to be accepted. The prize: $5 million.

Familiar with MrBeast’s content and with the lengths to which those who appear in his videos must go in order to win, many expected outlandish and even potentially risky challenges.

During an intake process this year, several contestants told The New York Times that they had been asked whether they would be willing to be buried alive or travel to outer space. One contestant recalled being asked if she would be able to swim to shore if thrown overboard from a boat. “I understand that such activities may cause me death, illness, or serious bodily injury, including, but not limited to exhaustion, dehydration, overexertion, burns, and heat stroke,” read a line in a contract that applicants were required to sign. (Such language is commonplace in reality television contracts.)

In screenshots from a group chat, some of the contestants appeared unbothered by the experience. They had signed a contract that they were willing to die for this.

Possible Preaching Angle:

Martyrdom; Money, love of; Risk – Throughout history, many people have given their lives for causes they felt were noble and worthy. Others have risked their lives for personal gain or glory. The question is, what are you willing to give your life for?

In the fall of 2023, singer Oliver Anthony got his big break in the music industry with his song “Rich Men North of Richmond,” a scathing criticism of wealthy politicians and other movers and shakers. And now that he’s gotten a taste of the music industry in Nashville, he’s decided to live out his convictions.

Anthony revealed in a recent YouTube video, “I’ve decided that moving forward, I don’t need a Nashville management company. I don’t even need to exist within the space of music. So, I’m looking at switching my whole business over to a traveling ministry.” He added, “Our system is broken.”

The singer, whose real name is Christopher Anthony Lunsford, says his vision is not to participate in the system, but transform it. "I have this vision for this thing that I’m calling the Real Revival Project, and it’s basically going to start as a grassroots music festival. But hopefully it grows into something that can literally change our landscape and our culture and the way we live.”

Anthony says he wants to create something that exists parallel to Nashville that circumvents the monopolies of Live Nation and Ticketmaster, and it goes into towns that haven’t had music in them in a long time. And he insists he’s not doing anything revolutionary. “I just want to help bridge the gap between millions of people who all believe in the greater vision of us all just getting back to living a normal life.”

Anthony sees the decline of the industry as part of a larger pattern that discouraged his interest in pursuing the traditional path to music stardom. He said:

At the very beginning, our focus was just trying to figure out what we felt like God’s purpose was for our lives and trying to figure out how to pursue that. I think it was just being around all those people that weren’t of that mindset. There’s no way to create something that’s focused around God when you’re working with people who are just focused around making money.

Possible Preaching Angle:

God’s purpose for life is more than just seeking fame and fortune; God calls us to make a positive difference in whatever space we’re called to inhabit.

According to The Washington Post, there’s a new social media trend of which to be wary.

There is an increasing popularity of travel influencers – models who make a living creating social media content in far-flung locales. They combine two already popular trends: content around makeup and beauty products, and content around travel tips and trends. As these two content lanes have merged into one larger lane, there’s been an uptick in beauty and makeup tutorials for travelers and aspiring travel influencers.

For example, a number of popular accounts on TikTok have promoted the idea of the passport glow-up –an excessive makeover to beautify one’s appearance before taking an official passport photo. But the trend is starting to crest in popularity, not only because other trends are taking their place, but because travel experts are warning users of potential complications afterwards.

“I’ve never been so humbled in my life,” wrote influencer Alisha Marie, in a TikTok video. She told her followers she almost was denied boarding on a flight because the TSA official didn’t think she looked like her passport photo, one where she was wearing heavy makeup. She said, “This is why you should never do hot photos for your passport.”

According to the International Civil Aviation Organization, passport photos must bear an “accurate likeness” to the traveler. There was a similar confirmation from State Department. “If you plan on wearing makeup in your passport photo, we encourage you to stick to a makeup look that is consistent with your regular makeup style.”

That’s a trend that travelers would be mindful to heed.

Possible Preaching Angle:

It’s appropriate to dress well and be presentable to people, but if we chase glamor, fashion, and status, we are following the way of the world.

On a recent episode of The Howard Stern Show, the “shock-jock” host asked his guest, music legend Paul Simon, questions about music, life, art, and anything else that came to mind. Stern rose to fame with his exaltation of immorality and self-adulation. At the end of the interview, Stern said:

Paul, just give me one last answer. You seem very wise. You’ve lived through everything. You’ve created great masterpieces. Is there a God? Because I need to know. I’m getting older. Is this it for me? Am I going to die and that’s it or am I going somewhere? And please answer it in a serious manner.

Simon responded,

This is my feeling about God or Creator. The planet that I’m living on is so beautiful and the universe is so awe-inspiring. If that is the work of a creator, I say, “Thanks so much. I really love your work on the universe. Excellent work, coming from me, Paul Simon, to you, I really dig what you’re doing.” If it turns out that there’s another explanation for creation, I’m still unbelievably grateful for my existence. I still think it’s amazing. If it turns out, I thought it was God but it’s some other explanation, it doesn’t matter to me ….

Then, Stern interrupted, “But it’s so cruel. We have this existence and then we have to disappear. It’s hard.”

Actress and former Seinfeld star (as Elaine) Julia Louis-Dreyfus has had moments when tragedy and comedy get put in a blender. Monday, September 18, 2017, was one of them. Louis-Dreyfus and the hit TV show Veep had triumphed at the Emmys the night before. By morning, her doctor was on the phone telling her she had cancer. The first thing she did after hanging up was double over with laughter.

She said, “I mean, it felt like it was written. It felt like it was a horrible black comedy. And then it sort of morphed into crying hysterically.” [But she was also] terrified. “You just simply don’t consider it for yourself, you know, that’s sort of the arrogance of human beings. But of course, at some point, we’re all going to bite it.”

After so many years of fame, the actress Angelina Jolie has resigned herself to some elements of its bargain. The constant gaze of paparazzi means other people have chosen how they want to see her.

Jolie says, “Since I was young, people liked the part of me that’s pretty tough and maybe a bit wild—that’s the part that I think people enjoy. I’m not the one [who] you want to hear about my pain or my sadness. You know, that’s not entertaining.”

Jolie plans to eventually leave L.A. “I grew up in quite a shallow place,” she says. “Of all the places in the world, Hollywood is not a healthy place. So, you seek authenticity.”

Mike Tyson is one of the greatest boxers of all time. Over his career, “Iron Mike” had 50 wins, including 44 knockouts, and only six losses. Coming from a difficult childhood, during which he was surrounded by crime and poverty, he escaped his circumstances through a laser-like focus on his dream of athletic greatness. And he realized that dream in 1986 by becoming the world heavyweight champion at the age of 20.

Despite his success and fame, Tyson was dogged by crises, failed relationships, and legal troubles, including allegations of domestic violence and nearly three years in prison in the 1990s after he was convicted on a charge of rape. He achieved all his ambitions of riches and renown, but a happy life seemed to elude him.

This might seem ironic or contradictory to some. To Tyson, however, it was neither. “You almost have to give your happiness up to accomplish your goals,” he reflected in a 2020 interview.

That is what we might call the Tyson Paradox. Building a good life requires us to have goals that keep us focused, enthusiastic, and out of trouble. But actually, attaining those goals might not give us the payoff we imagined, and could in fact bring us misery. Although most of us will never see the highs and lows that Mike Tyson experienced, we can all easily fall into our own version of the same trap.

Two researchers have found that success comes with a trap: It can cause teams to rely more on their “stars.” This makes the team less adaptable and more likely to get stuck in old ways of doing things. And, ultimately, it increases the chances of failure the next time around.

They started their research by looking at pro basketball teams. They examined teams in the NBA across more than 60,000 games, spanning 34 years. Leveraging motion-tracking-camera data, they looked at how teams’ passing patterns and shot distributions changed after wins and losses. Here’s their conclusion:

We found that after winning, teams became more reliant on their star players. Teams passed the ball about 6% more to the stars, and their shot distribution skewed 15% more toward the big performers. Although doubling down is intuitive (“We want to exploit what worked before”), it ended up decreasing teams’ chances of winning the next game. The increased reliance on the star players made teams more predictable to the next opponent and easier to defend—and therefore less likely to win the game … Our studies suggest that success threatens teams.

Their recommendation? Focus on the whole team, not just the stars. The researchers concluded, “When teams succeed, the credit is less likely to focus on specific performers, but rather on the team. Likewise, blame is less likely to be attributed solely to the stars, so the team can get a clearer picture of what went wrong.”

Sounds like the body of Christ!

In an interview on Bill Maher’s Club Random podcast, actor Rainn Wilson, who played Dwight Schrute in the TV series The Office, said the following:

When I signed up for The Office, it’s like, “I want to buy a house.” I wasn’t thinking about giving laughter as a therapeutic remedy and a balm and a salve to a hurting populace … I spent several years really mostly unhappy because it wasn’t enough.

This is what I was looking at: I’m on a hit show, Emmy nominated every year, making lots of money working with Steve Carell, and Jenna Fisher, and John Krasinski … I’m on one of the great TV shows. People love it. I wasn’t enjoying it. I was thinking about, “Why am I not a movie star? Why am I not the next Jack Black or the next Will Ferrell? How come I can’t have a movie career?” (He explained later in the interview how he couldn’t stop chasing the dragon that is success.)

When I was on The Office, I was making hundreds of thousands. I wanted millions. I was a TV star, but I wanted to be a movie star. It was never enough. Humans have lived for hundreds of thousands of years, and never enough has helped us as a species.

The Federal Aviation Administration sent a letter to Trevor Jacob on April 11, 2023, informing him that his pilot’s certification was being revoked. The letter read, “On November 24, 2021, you demonstrated a lack of care, judgment, and responsibility by choosing to jump out of an aircraft solely so you could record the footage of the crash.”

Jacob had denied the accusation on numerous occasions, including in a statement to The New York Times, stating flatly, “I’ll happily say I did not purposely crash my plane for views on YouTube.” In May, however, as part of a guilty plea he admitted the truth that the crash intended to boost views for a sponsorship deal on his YouTube channel.

That lie was only the tip of Jacob’s iceberg of falsehoods related to the crash. He lied to FAA investigators by telling them he didn’t know the location of the plane’s remains, when he’d previously contracted a helicopter firm to airlift the wreckage to a nearby hangar for disposal. Jacob also lied when he told investigators the initial reason for the crash was that his plane lost all its power and he parachuted after not being able to find any safe landing options. In their letter, the FAA noted that Jacobs’ own footage showed that he’d failed to take all the necessary steps to attempt a safe landing. According to the FAA’s analysis, Jacob’s actions were “egregious and intentional.”

Andew Madsen is a representative of the Los Padres National Forest, the location where Jacob’s plane crash landed. Madsen called the stunt dangerous and noted that anyone who intentionally causes a wildfire can be held liable for all costs associated with fighting the fire. He said, “Thankfully this incident did not spark a fire.”

Possible Preaching Angle:

Taking shortcuts to fame and success often involves reckless behavior that can threaten our safety and/or ruin our reputation. You can lose more than you can gain.

Sis Vivian Richards is a legendary cricketer who represented the West Indies in their years of undisputed cricket dominance from the late 1970’s to the mid 1990’s. He is considered one of the greatest and most entertaining batsmen in the history of the game. During a time when many fearsome fast bowlers were playing international cricket, Richards never wore a helmet to protect himself from injury. He depended only on his skills, eyesight, and reflexes, to establish himself as one of the greatest of all time.

In a glittering career, Vivian Richards played in 121 international cricket test matches scoring 8540 runs at an outstanding average of 50.23. In spite of his extraordinary talent and the fame he found as a cricketer, Richards displayed a simplicity about his very humble beginnings.

In his autobiography, he spoke of the time when he was not well known and trying to establish himself in league cricket in England. In gratitude, he drew reference to the fact that a lesser-known cricketer from Sri Lanka, Shandy Perera, was a major influence on his cricket development with valuable knowledge and insights about the game.

It is commendable that a man who achieved such greatness in the sport would remember his humble beginnings and show gratitude to someone who had been an early influence on his successful career.

Similarly, the Bible tells us to, “Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith” (Heb. 13:7). Let’s always be grateful for those who have guided us spiritually along life’s journey.

Author Cathy O'Neal's The Shame Machine, delves into the numerous ways that corporations, governments, and much of the media have weaponized and turned into big business the shaming of individuals or groups. One example is the Kardashian empire:

Kim Kardashian's body is central to both her brand and her commercial empire. Her very profitable company sells makeup, lipstick, and other cosmetics. By early 2020 Kardashian's fortune was creeping toward billionaire status and in April 2021 it was achieved. The founding assumption of her business is that looks are not God-given. It's a never-ending job. And it's expensive. One branch of her branded enterprise involves pitching shelves of products designed to help lesser mortals achieve the perfection of the Kardashian body. For a single Instagram post, she rakes in an estimated half-million dollars. She pops up on millions of feeds, promoting appetite-suppressing lollipops, a fourteen-day detox program, and many more offerings.

She sells fantasy. And the marketing is based on shame: having anything less than a dream body is a choice. If you don't like what you were born with, you can fix it. It's up to you. This is a powerful message, especially for young women. Their anxiety regarding these issues is unrelenting, and it begins early.

These fears fuel endless business for sex-goddesses like Kim Kardashian. To inch closer to their ideal, millions of women strive, worry, work out, diet, buy all kinds of branded garbage, and yet never achieve their goal of looking like her. Many of them feel like wrecks. Beauty has long been the perfect scam, an inexhaustible shame machine.

Kelly Kay Green wanted to be someone. So, she donned a specially made dress, chugged a Coors Light for courage, and ran onto the field at the Super Bowl in February 2020. In her pursuit of fame, Green thought of everything: She selected a seat close to the field, trained with a physical therapist to stick the landing, engaged a lawyer, and bought a Velcro-equipped dress she could strip away.

Green wanted to make it to the 50-yard line from her end zone seat. She did not even make it to the one-yard line. Arrested almost instantly, she feared that her ambitions of internet celebrity would lead only to a long, cold night in lockup.

After her release, though, a photographer was waiting. Reunited with her phone, Green saw her Instagram statistics soaring. Her mug shot rocketed around the internet. Followers multiplied, ultimately hundreds of thousands of them, with many eager to pay for videos and pictures that were often at the very least suggestive. Invitations to high-profile parties arrived, too.

“All of a sudden, I wasn’t just the hot girl or the girl that ran on the field,” she said. “I was a hot Instagram influencer that ran on the field and had worldwide attention.” But she also found that fame has a downside. Green said, “[Fame] looks so inviting and so glamorous, but I learned quickly that [celebrity] events give me anxiety, being around people who are just asking me what I can do and how can I help them,” she said. “All of these things that Hollywood is, and will always be, that looked so appealing to me just turned me completely off from it.”

Green moved back to Tennessee. She still has a copy of her mugshot.

Christian Coleman is the reigning world champion in the men’s 100 meters. From time to time, strangers approach the 26-year-old Atlanta native with a proposition. He said, “People will look at me, like, ‘You’re Christian Coleman. Hey, you want to race?’ And I mean, like, we’re in the middle of the mall. It’s like, obviously not.”

It’s a remarkably common occurrence, top sprinters say. Against all odds, overconfident average citizens size up these singularly skilled and sculpted specimens and think they have a chance to win. The urge appears to be universal, spanning national boundaries and identities.

Karsten Warholm, the 26-year-old world record holder in the 400-meter hurdles, works out at an indoor public facility in Oslo, in his native Norway. Mr. Warholm recalled a training session when a man, not dressed in running clothes, asked him to race.

Mr. Warholm said, “I was like, ‘Sure,’ because I was going to do another run either way. Of course, I smoked him, obviously.” At the finish line, the man insisted he had a bad start. He wanted to race again, Mr. Warholm recalled, chuckling.

“It’s time for Dodger baseball … Hi everybody and a very pleasant good evening to you, wherever you may be.”

That was the opening Los Angeles Dodgers fans heard so many times over the course of Vin Scully’s 67-year career as broadcaster for the team. When Scully died in August 2022 at the age of 94, he received tributes from columnists, analysts, athletes, broadcasters, and friends from around the U.S., replete with examples of his greatest calls. For some of the most memorable moments in the history of sports, Scully was there. Everywhere you look there are stories of his impact on players, broadcasters, and fans—all because of his grace and compassion. Stories of Scully taking time for others and teaching others how to act abound.

But while others have heaped praise on Scully for decades, he said,

God has been incredibly kind to allow me to be in the position to watch and to broadcast all these somewhat monumental events. I’m really filled with thanksgiving and the fact that I’ve been given such a chance to view. But none of those are my achievements; I just happened to be there. ... I know some people won’t understand it, but I think it has been God’s generosity to put me in these places and let me enjoy it.

His legacy can be summed up by how he said he saw himself, “a very normal guy … I just want to be remembered as a good man, an honest man, and one who lived up to his own beliefs.”

Unlike Macaulay Culkin, who starred in the famous Christmas movie Home Alone, his younger brother Kieran turned down multiple opportunities to be a child star. He learned by observation that he didn’t want a life of fame—knowing it could lead to things like substance abuse, court guardianship battles, and the like.

We might be tempted to view the life choices of famous people like the Culkin brothers from a distance. But maybe we’re looking into a collective mirror. Today, fame is not just something that happens to stars, child or otherwise. Thanks to the age of social media, many of us are turning into mini-stars, with the only real difference being the size of our audience.

The leaked “Facebook Files,” which discuss the inner workings of the social media company, include data about the harm Instagram usage inflicts on the self-image of adolescents. Every child or teen faces a fear of judgment from their peers. They also fear being exiled from their social group.

However, the world of social media seems to heighten these dynamics—where almost everyone is followed by a kind of paparazzi, exposing and subjecting us to the approval or disapproval of our peers, acquaintances, and often complete strangers.

Philosopher Alain de Botton writes, “The subconscious argument goes, if I’m famous, I will be free from facing any rejection or judgment. I will have an instant and safe community.” However, de Botton says, the exact opposite is true: “Fame makes people more, not less, vulnerable, because it throws them open to unlimited judgment.”

George Harrison was the lead guitarist for the Beatles. He embraced Indian culture and helped broaden the scope of popular music through his incorporation of Indian instrumentation and Hindu-aligned spirituality in the Beatles' work.

CBS's Mark Phillips reported on the death and life of George Harrison on November 29th, 2001:

The former Beatle died in Los Angeles from cancer, his family by his side. He was 58 years old. Harrison's life and music reached for the same notes - inner strength and inner peace - and struck a chord with millions.

Of all the Beatles George Harrison hadn't been the brash one or the cute one or the funny one. He'd been the thoughtful one seeking not fame but answers: He said, “The purpose of life is to find out who am I, why am I here and where am I going? That's what we need answering.” As he was dying, his final message to the world was: “Everything else can wait, but the search for God cannot wait, and love one another.”

Gary Chapman has been a household name since the mid-1990s after publishing his book that helped people discover their primary ways of giving and receiving love. The Five Love Languages sold 8,500 copies its first year. It more than doubled that in the second year. It was still the top-selling Christian book for much of 2021. It has sold more than 20 million copies worldwide.

But an article in Christianity Today is titled, “Gary Chapman Doesn’t Know That He Is Famous.” The article says Chapman continues to live a humble and faithful walk with Jesus and his church:

Gary Chapman is constant. He’s lived in the same red-brick house for more than 20 years. He still counsels couples in the same Baptist congregation he has pastored for five decades in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He blocks Sundays from his busy speaking schedule so he can attend worship there, even if it means taking a redeye flight to make it on time. Many weeks, he stands at the door after services to greet parishioners.

He doesn’t drink. He seems to have worn khakis for most of his life. His guiltiest pleasure is that he can’t finish lunch or dinner without a dessert. … He waters his backyard flowers in the mornings and pulls kudzu. He prays through his first round of daily calisthenics: “I come to you in the name of Jesus,” he recites, swinging his arms up and down, then intercedes for people by name. During heel raises, he covers some refugee camps and rescue missions. He does it all over again at night, “but at night I’m just talking to God and praising God.”

Even when he retired in October, 2021, not much changed about Gary. He kept his church office and continues counseling.