Martin Wickens

Can you see him? Can you see that young man studying how to act, learning his lines, modeling his life after the stars on the silver screen?
Can you see her? The young woman taking acting classes, doing all she can to look a certain way, be seen with the right people, and all too often giving up some things that are not easily won back.

Maybe one of them becomes one of a thousand, thousand that makes it. They get seen by the right producer. They get their big break. They’re famous. One big movie leads to another. Maybe they keep their integrity. Maybe they become a diva. Those nearest them may love or loath them. But the media loves them. The media adore them. Social media is filled with pictures and interviews of them. Then one day they really hit the big time, they’re awarded a permanent star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame! Everyone knows their name! They’ve arrived.

A few years later I’m walking along the Walk of Fame with my friend. We recognize a few names on the stars but as we look at many of them, maybe even most of them we look at each other and ask, “Do you know who that was?”

We kick some debris off of a star and don’t recognize the name anyway.

Other stars have some unidentifiable liquid on them and would really rather not know what it is.

That young man, that young woman, who sacrificed it all to get a star, to be a star, is forgotten. We think about looking up some names on Google, but then we feel hungry and decide to focus on choosing where to go for lunch.

And all I can wonder is this, was it worth it? Maybe it’s not acting, maybe it’s music, sports, or something else. None of those things are wrong. Learning to work as a team is admirable. There are many valuable lessons to learn. But what are they sacrificing that might be of greater value in order to accomplish something of less value?

In the USA at least 44 million young people play on an organized team of some kind. The lives of many families revolve around their child’s sports. Often, what gets sacrificed is church attendance, involvement, and service.

What odds does your child have of hitting the big time in sport?

• Of all the young men playing varsity less than 6% will play college football. Of that 6%, only 1.8% will be drafted by the NFL. What odds does your child have of playing in the NFL? 0.08%
• The odds for basketball players are even smaller. The chance of playing professionally is 0.03%. Your odds of being struck by lightning are marginally less.

I realize most parents don’t see sports, music, academics, or other activities as a means to an end, but as an end in themselves. My two questions are these:

• Is it worth it?
• What do they miss along the way?

Here is my point.

With everything you or your child may be involved with, make church the activity you miss other things for.

When life gets busy and you have to choose what you will sacrifice and where you will be, choose church.

Not just being there, but being involved, being the church. Take them where they learn to love God, love His Word, love His people, and find God’s purpose for their lives.

If it’s God’s plan then maybe they’ll still succeed at a vocation in what today is a hobby, but help their faith be paramount. They can be a Christian actor, a Christian footballer, a Christian singer, a Christian carpenter, or whatever they want. But lead them to be like Christ first and foremost.

If something gets sacrificed, don’t let it be their faith.

Then, by God’s grace, at the end of it all, the question of “Was it worth it?” will be answered with a God-honoring, “Yes!”