ODJ: Not About Fame

February 23, 2017 

READ: 2 Corinthians 5:12-21 

We are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” (v.20).

I spent much of my post-college career as a sports journalist—regularly talking with Olympic and professional athletes who professed and modeled a life devoted to Jesus. It wasn’t until I had interviewed well over one hundred athletes that I realized I was more apt to share their testimonies with others than I was to share my own. I believed friends and acquaintances would rather hear about the athletes’ journeys than hear about mine.

Scripture, however, doesn’t say, “Celebrities who are in Christ are new persons.” It doesn’t say, “Famous athletes who are in Christ are new persons.” It doesn’t say, “The rich, the famous, the successful who are in Christ are new persons.” The Bible says, “Anyone who belongs to Christ has become a new person. The old life is gone; a new life has begun!” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

While this passage certainly includes the rich, the famous, and the successful who are in Christ, it doesn’t exclude those who lack notoriety or popularity based on the world’s standards. Respectively, it’s the transformation, the redemption, the salvation through Jesus alone that makes each and every believer’s testimony worth sharing. Our salvation is “not a reward for the good things we have done” (Ephesians 2:9).

God reconciles us to Himself through Jesus, and not through our social status or our accomplishments (2 Corinthians 5:18). This means that my faith story is as meaningful and remarkable as the most famous person I’ve interviewed. As is yours. For we are all saved by grace and “are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, ‘Come back to God!’ ” (v.20).

Each salvation story is all about Him.

—Roxanne Robbins

365-day plan: Deuteronomy 29:1-29

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Read 1 Peter 3:15 and consider what it says about being ready to share your story. 
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What’s a basic outline of your salvation story—something you can readily share with others? How has Jesus changed your life? Who will you share this with today?