Real And Lasting Prestige!

“For they loved human praise more than the praise of God.”-John 12:43 NLT

It is my 50th high school reunion this year. Attending a prestigious private school in Honolulu, many of my classmates have fulfilled their vocational dreams and have attained various levels of prestige in their careers. A few months before my senior year, I had decided to follow Jesus as my Lord. The Jesus movement was in full swing in 1973. During that senior year of my high school my faith in Christ was becoming my greatest source of prestige. Fifty years later, it is has become my only source of prestige.

Webster’s Dictionary defines prestige as “1.: standing or estimation in the eyes of people: weight or credit in general opinion. 2.: commanding position in people’s minds.” I believe our culture’s obsession with prestige, that of creating a positive image in other people’s minds, is what is leading so many people away from the narrow road of following Christ, the source of real and lasting prestige.

The Apostle Paul warned us about the seeking prestige from people when he wrote, “For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts.” (I Thessalonians 2:4 NLT)

Why is this people-pleasing to gain prestige so dangerous? Because seeking to win prestige from the majority, the many, will lead us away from the minority, the few whom we are called to join on the road to eternal Life. And seeking approval from the many will also lead us away from receiving it from the One to whom we will each ultimately be accountable to. This reliance upon people for prestige is seeking glory here and now rather than waiting for it there and then. It is stubbornly seeking it from “the bottom up” rather than humbly receiving it “from the top down.”

“Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor (prestige!) at God’s right hand. Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. For you died to this life (of prestige-seeking from others) and your real life (real prestige!) is hidden (for now) with Christ in God. When Christ, who is your life (your Source), is revealed to the whole world you will share in all his glory (true, eternal prestige!) Colossians 3:1-4 NLT parenthetic statements added).

When we seek after the one, temporal people-dependent prestige we are in danger of losing the other, eternal God-imparted prestige.

Today I remember 1973 with some happy memories and some sadness as well. Those “days of our youth” are long gone, never to return. But I can now honestly say with the Apostle Paul, “I focus on this one thing: forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus is calling us.” (Philippians 3:13-14 NLT) Truly the best is yet to come… because the best (prestige) has already come!

Amen.