Recently ESPN.com announced their third annual “World Fame 100” list.
Their process started by gathering 600 of the biggest names in sports over 68 countries and based in three different areas: search score, endorsement dollars, and social media followers. The search score measure how often a name is searched, endorsement dollars pull in research information from www.forbes.com, and for social media followers, they used the number from their most popular medium. Not all athletes are one for every platform.
Cristiano Ronaldo of Real Madrid holds down the number one spot as his search score is 100, he makes over $40 million in endorsements and his social following is over 121.7 million; followed by LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Lionel Messi of FC Barcelona. Rounding out the top 5 include Neymar of Paris Saint-Germain FC and tennis player Roger Federer.
Out of these five athletes, no one has a search score under 63; they have all made at least $24 million in endorsements, and have at least 14 million followers on social media. They are beloved throughout the world by men and women of all ages and races.
The famous seem to have it all, and we sometimes find ourselves coveting what they have and appear to have. How long has it been since Cristiano went in and out of a grocery store? When’s the last time LeBron walked down the street without being approached by anyone? The pull toward fame can feel overwhelming; we have to look at our motivation.
Jesus had the opportunity to capture more fame than an athlete. There’s a theory if Jesus were famous, wealthy, and have a huge following then people would take more notice of His message. If He was the true king, He could glorify God even more. Does this earthly perspective make sense to you? It does to most, but Jesus said “no” to this crowning. It wasn’t God’s plan, so Jesus chose to do things the harder way. His goal was to seek the will of His Heavenly Father and to do it. In John 8:50 He said: “I am not seeking glory for myself. “Remember that Jesus set the model for us to use; that must be our goal as well. When we all get to heaven there will be no more fame as we all will be important in the eyes of the Lord.
