Sometimes the greatest trap to our personal life success is our own sick pursuit of fame or notoriety. Its a natural feeling, I think, where we hope others are noticing our efforts. Everyone can use a positive word or the encouraging “atta-boy.” Yet, for some of us (okay, maybe its just me), we seem so eager to achieve some sort of level of fame that we miss clearly that the pursuit itself can kill our own life pursuit of a successful life.
I told you in an earlier post how I was impressed with C. S. Lewis acknowledging that it was of no concern to him how God had used him, not even compared to the long life of an atheist in the town. Lewis was comfortable knowing that he was in right standing with the Lord.
Moreover, Lewis, as recounted by his personal secretary Walter Hooper, seemed completely aware of how he need not pursue some form of fame or glory. In fact, the secretary wrote, “Lewis had his share of worries. But, having done all in his power to solve them, he left the matter to God and got on with his work and pleasures.” In other words, Lewis was completely comfortable in his own skin, happy with the life God had given him.
This may seem a bit of a stretch as we consider the man, a published author who by the 1950s was quite famous in England. We might, with some justification, think “Well of course he’s happy—he’s famous and maybe rich.” My greatest weakness is that I often worry too much about how much glory or fame I am receiving (or not receiving). To my everlasting shame, I worry about it far too much, and let how I perceive that fact of my life drag me to glumness or depression. At worst, I wonder “what’s the point” when I can’t seem to see how my work is having an impact.
We would, though, be wrong in thinking Lewis somehow was reveling in his own glory. Instead, Hooper wrote that surprisingly, Lewis seemed to have no real interest in “his literary or theological position in the world.” Later, Hooper said, they had a conversation where Hooper noted that he was always disappointed in literary character of Lancelot who admitted to only doing the various brave things of the Arthurian legends to receive more personal glory, to “win worship.”
When Hooper asked if Lewis was aware that he was also winning worship from people who were reading his works, Lewis surprised Hooper by noting that it was critical for himself to be very careful to not think about it. In other words, Lewis was aware and realized that if he thought about it, the concept would ruin his joy.
Now how would that happen? At least two ways come to mind; first, as he thought about it, he might notice others who did not worship his words and then, arrogantly, Lewis might actually come to believe that he DESERVED worship. Obviously to go down that road is to allow one’s self to become the kind of idol that God wants destroyed.
Or, barring that, by becoming too aware of the possibility of fame, Lewis could become consumed with if he was doing enough. Once on top of the pedestal, instead of just living life well, being happy, and going about your responsibilities normal to you, it would rather become easy to be focused to an extreme about your own impact. Lewis was, here at the end of his life, fairly comfortable with just being. He had written or spoken, as he felt led; how those things impacted others was not his concern.
By not allowing himself to dwell on the fact that some of his writing WAS positively impacting others, Lewis was determined to protect himself from the possibility of fame. I think in that, Lewis was very conscious of his desire that every knee would only bow at the feet of Jesus, not at C. S. Lewis. One can almost hear Lewis meditating on the words of John the Baptist “that I must decrease so that Jesus may increase.”
As you work in your life, make sure you are not trapped by the allure of the false consumer life of fame that is now the center of American philosophy. You see this idea inherent in the reality shows or the contest shows like American Idol. Perhaps our problem is that we easily get confused about our own sense of glory. In any case, Lewis has it right. Go about your job with your best effort. Live well with values and the correct treatment of others. Worry none about whether any lasting glory is coming your way, and for sure don’t do things like Lancelot—only for the purpose of winning the worship of others.
In the end, by avoiding the “trap of fame,” you become someone who can change the life of another for the better. And there, you find true success. That is life lived well.