Saying No

Our ambition in life ideally should be motivated by a love for Christ and a desire to follow Him. And, we can submit our decision-making to His will. Ephesians 5 directs us to:
15 See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,
16 redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
17 Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

The world sends us a message that it has much to offer us, and we can be drawn in, deceived, and distracted by the promises of worldly ambition. The desire to be famous can short-circuit God's plan for us to, as it's been said, "make Him famous."  The lure of worldly riches can lead us astray from what is really important in the Kingdom. So, our decisions can be based on selfish ambition or an ambition to honor Christ - and the Word can be our standard.

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We are called to be people who reflect the glory of God, and we can rely on His Spirit to guide us in the decisions that we make. It's a daily, consistent process of choosing to walk in His ways. Titus 2 reminds us:
11 For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,
12 teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,
13 looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ,
14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works.

Another translation says that God's grace "teaches us to say "No" to those behaviors that don't line up with Scripture.

Imagine, you're an actor and you have a potentially big pay day coming.  But, the role you are being asked to play has some, well, faults - you're being asked to act in a manner that violates your personal convictions.  That may be a foreign concept to most of us, but there will be those choices that come; choices that challenge our personal integrity and test what we believe.

It appears actor Chris Tucker may have passed a critical test.  According to The Christian Post:

Rapper Ice Cube has revealed that actor Chris Tucker, his co-star in the popular 1995 film “Friday,” didn’t appear in the sequels because of his Christian faith, turning down a $10 million to $12 million offer to portray a character known for cussing and smoking marijuana.

Ice Cube shared the information on social media after being asked if Tucker quit because the comedy actor, who portrayed the character “Smokey” in “Friday,” was underpaid.

“We were ready to pay Chris Tucker $10-12m to do ‘Next Friday’ but he turned us down for religious reasons,” he tweeted. “He didn’t want to cuss or smoke weed on camera anymore.”

In an interview with All Urban Central last November, Tucker, who is best known for his role in the “Rush Hour” film franchise, had hinted at the reason why he refused to appear in the sequels “Next Friday” and “Friday After Next.”

The actor is quoted as saying: “Back then, I gotta tell you, one of the reasons why I didn’t do the second one was because of the weed. Because I said, man, that movie became a phenomenon. I don’t want everybody smoking weed — and I never really told people this because I kind of forgot about it, but it was one of the reasons why I didn’t do it. Because I said, ‘I don't wanna represent everybody smoking weed.’”

The article goes on to say:

In 2014, Tucker told the Canadian newspaper Straight that he returned to stand-up comedy because of his faith.

“Being a Christian helps me in comedy,” he said. “I have to talk about other stuff. Normally, most comics talk about stuff that’s easy — maybe cussing or saying something raunchy. I have to dig deeper to find something that’s still funny and not raunchy. It’s harder. I like the challenge.”

The Post also linked to a Faithwire story, which reported:

A documentary on the YouTube channel Comedy Hype revealed Tucker — once the highest paid actor in Hollywood — was raised Pentecostal and regularly attended church. When he became famous, 0the celebrity abandoned his faith but returned to his religious roots when he moved back to Atlanta in the late 1990s, when he became a born-again Christian.

I think it's good to ask something to the effect of this: Do your decisions reflect your convictions, or do you put personal gain over spiritual growth?  The Bible is our grid for our decision-making, and in following the Scriptures, that may involve making tough choices, that we may have to really pray through.  

We can also consider how much of our lives are controlled by the pursuit of money or the lure of personal success.  Jesus rebuked two of his disciples for debating who would be the greatest in the Kingdom; but our ambition should be centered on not making a name for ourselves, but on exalting His name, making Him famous.

There is a distinction between success in the eyes of the Lord and worldly success. That is not to say that people won't become well-known, even when they follow Christ; and praise God, that can be a platform in order to honor Him. But, we should certainly not be consumed by a thirst to be what is termed, "rich and famous," but our main ambition should be to follow Him.  Obedience is the determinant of our success.