Accolades


……You gladly honour each other, but you don’t care about the honour that comes from God. John 5:44

Our world, for the most part, has a great attraction, even fascination with the rich and famous – what they are wearing and doing, where they are living and going. This fascination sells magazines and gives the paparazzi its living and in doing so feeds the fame frenzy that makes the lives of its subjects miserable.

Accolades are showered on ‘the man or the woman of the moment’ – Emmy awards, Tony awards, Grammies and Oscars, but soon the music fades and they can be left floundering for their sense of identity, because the fame that held it in place is gone. I was just watching an interview with a young woman who had been a child sitcom star and when she was fired she was lost. Because she had no vision of a future and was just looking for quick money she made some decisions which took her into ‘work’ that has ruined her reputation. I am sure she is not alone in this.

Jesus was very aware that the accolades or adoration of men could be here today and gone tomorrow. In fact this proved absolutely true in his own life. One day they were hailing him as their king and the next the crowds were crying “crucify him”. This is why Jesus based his life upon the honour he received from God rather than any honour that came from men.

Where do you look for your approval? It doesn’t hurt to ask ourselves that question now and again. In the passage today Jesus is telling the resistant leaders that he is the one who could offer them eternal life (vs 39 – 41) yet they refused to come to him. They were searching the scriptures yet because their eyes were blinded they could not see

that he was the one of whom the scriptures spoke. The prophecies were many that pointed to him being the one but perhaps they thought the messiah would honour them for their position. Because he did not, but rather criticised them as hypocrites for the most part, therefore their pride was hurt so they rejected him. They looked for the accolades and the approval of men (John 12:42-43).

Jesus warns us that if we follow him we will probably be rejected by the world in general. He was and so shall we. Our identity needs to be firmly grounded in who we are in Christ. I am a child of God, beloved, accepted and valued. To know this in my heart will keep me on firm ground when I run into rejection from the world.


Prayer: Heavenly Father, please help me to be more eager to have your praise and approval than the approval of my friends and even my family. Help me to know how valuable I am to you and to live like the child of the King of kings and Lord of lords. Amen