Attention can be helpful and beneficial, but it can also be very disruptive. The guiding questions for us Christians as we are given the limelight is this: Are we reverting the limelight back to Jesus or are we trying to hoard it?
Without a shadow of a doubt God wants us to stand out simply because He causes success to come upon us. And as we all know, with great success comes a great amount of recognition and honour. But for what reason does God give us attention through our success? Is it simply for our gain?
Colossians 3:17 tells us plainly why God wants us to stand out: "And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
God brings success and attention to believers because it is when His people are honoured that He is honoured. Sadly, many people take success and fame and forget to give it to God. As a result, they fall into the dangers of the spotlight.
The key to withstanding the dangers of the limelight all boils down to having humility in our hearts. Proverbs 4:23 warns us, "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life."
The attention given us can be alluring to say the least, but we must always remind ourselves that all of the fame and glory should never go to us.
The interesting thing about glory is that we as people were never meant to receive it. We were only meant to give it, and to give it solely to God. Being at the receiving end of the glory is dangerous simply because it's the number one way that pride is built up. And pride neither honours God nor benefit us. Pride gives us the illusion of us building ourselves up when it only sets us up for a higher fall. James 4:6 says, "But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, 'God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'"
So how do we steer clear of the danger of pride that comes from being in the limelight? As the glory comes to us, let us remember that we were only meant to be channels of that glory, not recipients of it. That's not to say that we reject glory and honour that comes from others. When honour is given, we are to take it but only for the reason that we may place it at God's feet.
The limelight can be a dangerous place to be in, but it's a place God calls us into nonetheless because it is when people who are devoted to God and right in the stance of their heart are under the spotlight that God is most glorified.
