Luke 19:1-10
Let’s face it. There are a lot of folks around who have made it big financially. According to Forbes.com, in 2005 there were 691 billionaires on planet Earth, with a collective worth of more than $2 trillion. Just so you’ll know: none of them is a member of our church!
As of last year, Bill Gates, at age 49 (that’s my age, by the way), had a net worth of 46.5 billion dollars, making him the richest person on Earth. Gates is not a Christian. Closer to home, Ted Turner’s net worth is 2 billion dollars, ranking him 321st among billionaires in the world. Because of the way Turner degrades the Christian Faith it’s hard to deem him a believer – even if he did underwrite the movie Gods and Generals.
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Think about the Top 100 Celebrities. During one recent year, Brittany Spears, the teen queen musician, was ranked number one. She earned 39.2 million dollars. Madonna, another music woman, was number four. She earned 43 million dollars. Jennifer Anniston, star of Friends, was number 28 and made $24 million. Howard Stern, the radio host whose vulgarity is beyond vulgar, was number 45 and made 31 million dollars -- and that was before his huge deal with Sirus radio. And number 100 was Ben Curtis. You remember Ben don’t you? He’s the guy that says, “Hey dude you’re getting a Dell.” A student at New York University, he made half a million dollars doing those Dell Computer commercials.
Supposedly these people have made it. Practically all of them have websites and have appeared on the cover of major magazines. They have wealth. They have power. They have influence. They have everything there is to have, it would seem. While they seemingly have made it, are we sure they have what it takes to really make it?
With some celebrities it’s clear there is no relationship with Jesus, and with many others we really don’t know if they have an authentic relationship with Jesus Christ, do we? Often there just doesn’t seem to be much evidence of a relationship with Christ.
Many of them do good things, certainly. I know that Bill and Melinda Gates do a lot of good things regarding health issues in third world countries – especially battling the AIDS epidemic in Africa through their foundation. They probably fund a lot more good things than many Christians. But simply because they are doing those good things, it doesn’t mean they are followers of Jesus Christ.
All of these names are representative of countless persons who’ve made it. Maybe in your life, you know some people who have made it -- maybe not in the Bill Gates league, but they are successful, affluent, financially secure. How do you witness to people like that? How does anybody move beyond the hesitancy to speak a word about Jesus Christ with the rich and famous -- with those who’ve made it?