Thursday night David Crowder played a free acoustic show in Memphis.  And I went.  And it was fabulous, as he always is.

I’ve seen him several times, but this time I was with a friend who knew the head of security at the venue.  And that friend graciously hooked us up with front row seats.  We strolled into a filled auditorium about 10 minutes before showtime, and we were escorted to our posh seats.

Which happened to be in front of a youth group.

And these high school kids were convinced that we had to be somebody famous in order to get these great seats.  Their first guess was that we were the KLOVE deejays sponsoring and emceeing the concert.

I kind of chuckled at that idea and politely informed them that we were not Amy, Craig, nor Kankelfritz.

As my friends and I sat there and talked, one of the youth group kids got out an impressive camera and tried to nonchalantly take my picture.  With a gigantic flash.  Four or five times.

His friend said he was camera happy.

Then the show started.  And between songs, David told several funny, personal stories.

In the middle of a story about a trip he and his wife had taken to Hawaii, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

I looked behind me, and a different youth group kid said, “Excuse me, ma’am?”

I shuddered.  How old did he think I was?!

“You don’t happen to be David Crowder’s wife, do you?”

I laughed, and replied, “Noooo….?”

Then his other friend explained, “Ohhhh, we thought you must be because of the way you were smiling and laughing while he told that story…like you knew exactly what he was talking about or something…”

I couldn’t believe it.

I couldn’t believe a) how utterly convinced these kids were that I was famous, and b) how desperate they were to rub elbows with someone famous.

(No slam against highschoolers.  Adults are this way, too, which is why People magazine and E! exist.)

(I cannot post links to People magazine and E! in this particular post without completely going against the very point I am trying to make.  But I feel it is important to point out I am not against these entities when they are used for entertainment purposes instead of places to find self-worth.)

Point a) just reminded me of how easily we can believe something that is false.  It doesn’t take much for us to label something as “true” and resist all evidences presented to us that what we actually believe is false.  Knowing this about ourselves, we have to guard against this tendency by constantly exposing ourselves to THE truth.

Point b) reminded me of the human desire for significance.  We all want to feel significant, and, if we don’t feel significant on our own, we at least want to be associated with someone who we believe is significant – i.e., celebrities.

But the truth of the matter is we don’t have to settle for association with celebrities.

We have access to the most Famous One of all.  If we want to, we can be God’s groupie.  All people everywhere have heard of Him in some form or fashion.  They may not have accurate views of Him – they may  call Him Mother Nature or Allah or Spirit Guide – but they have a concept of God.

(Note: having a concept of God does not solve one’s sin problem.  Therefore, a concept cannot save anyone.)

For those of us who know God personally through Jesus, we have direct communication with God.  All we need to do is talk about Him to others if we want to feel significant by association.

But that’s really just settling, too.  Association with God is great, but it isn’t the end all be all of our significance.

We aren’t significant because we know God or because we’ve talked to God or because we’ve gotten God’s autograph.

(Ok, the celebrity metaphor just fell apart.  Wah-waaaah.)

We are significant because the One True God loves us.

That’s it.

God loves us beyond words.  We are infinitely valuable to Him.  He made us.  He desires relationship with us.  All of us.

Unlike celebrities, God is personally invested in us.  He delights in us.

God says in Isaiah 43:4 that, “[we] are precious and honored in [His] sight…and [He] love[s] [us].”

(New personal record for use of [ ]’s in a single sentence.)

Zephaniah 3:17 says God delights in us and rejoices over us.

Significance.

It is not found in being David Crowder’s wife, though I am sure he is a lovely husband.

It is not found in speaking to David Crowder’s wife, though I am sure she is a lovely woman.

It is found in being the one in whom God delights.

And you, friend, are that one.