FAME IN THE BIBLE - Abraham’s life is a forecast of the kind of things people of Christ’s kingdom will face, and the ways by which they can triumph through faith. God announces a twofold objective: “I want to make your name great,” and “You shall be a blessing.” God’s promise to make Abraham’s name great was not a promise of fame, but a guarantee He would shape great character in him. The biblical concept of “fame” focuses on the quality of the person’s trustworthiness, integrity and spiritual weight. Abraham’s name became great through learning a walk of worship and a pathway of persistent pursuit of God’s will. That’s kingdom character! It’s the path to which the prototype calls us.

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Fame in the Bible

Jack Hayford

 “I will make you a great nation; I will bless you and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing.” -Genesis 12:2

The New Testament so explicitly directs us to “walk in the steps of the faith which our father Abraham had,” that it’s a matter of basic discipleship to examine his life in the Old Testament.

In the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit shows Abraham as more than merely a study of history — he’s a study in prophecy!

Abraham’s life is a forecast of

(1) the kind of things people of Christ’s kingdom will face, and

(2) the ways by which they can triumph through faith.

At the outset, God announces a twofold objective: “I want to make your name great,” and “You shall be a blessing.”

God’s promise to make Abraham’s name great was not a promise of fame, but a guarantee He would shape great character in him. 

The biblical concept of “fame” focuses on the quality of the person’s trustworthiness, integrity and spiritual weight.

That’s important to remember, since today we live in a society which mocks its own habit for “making people famous for nothing more than merely being well known.”

Thus, fame today may be acquired through scandal as quickly as through accomplishment. Either may make the cover of People Magazine!

But Abraham’s name became great through learning a walk of worship and a pathway of persistent pursuit of God’s will.

That’s kingdom character! It’s the path to which the prototype calls us. 

Jack Hayford serves as Chancellor of The Kings University (formerly The King’s College and Seminary) in Los Angeles and Dallas, which he founded in 1997. From 2004 to 2009, he also served as President of The International Church of the Foursquare Gospel. He is probably best known, however, as “Pastor Jack,” founding pastor of The Church On The Way in Van Nuys, California, where he served as senior pastor for more than three decades. A prolific and best-selling writer, Pastor Hayford is the author (or co-author) of more than fifty books and has composed 500 hymns and choruses, including the internationally known and widely recorded “Majesty.”

https://www.jackhayford.org/teaching/devotional/fame-in-the-bible/