Increasingly, young people answer the age-old question of “What do you want to be?” with the surprising answer: “Famous.” It doesn’t seem to matter all that much what we become famous for — just famous. One can be famous for just being famous. It shouldn’t surprise us. We are designed for honor. After all, we are made in God’s image with the purpose of managing creation under his authority. There is honor in that.

After the fatal fall of Adam and Eve, our desire for honor got all messed up, but we still crave it. Celebrity status is the substitute.

I am struck by the text of Scripture in Hebrews 11. There is a long list of people who are famous for eternity. They are a great cloud of witnesses whose lives still speak to current generations. (Hebrews 12:1) A chapter earlier we are told why they are famous.

Through their faith, the people in days of old earned a good reputation. (Hebrews 11:2)

These people are famous both in heaven and on earth. Their names live on and their influence continues to make an impact. They won’t be forgotten when this TV season is over. Millions of parents have named their children after them. Though the canon of Scripture is complete, the implication is that there is still room among that crowd of witnesses for new names. They all pointed toward one person in history: Jesus. Those who place their faith in him become part of that famous company.

Wanna be famous? For eternity? There is a sure-fire way.

We must note that the kind of faith they had made them radically different. In fact, many of them were so different from the cultural norm that they were cruelly persecuted and killed. Their witness was threatening to societies unaccustomed to sacrificial love and heaven-anchored faith.

It is still so today. Many Christians are being persecuted and executed in various places in the world for one reason, their faith in Jesus as Lord. They have been born again of the Spirit that rules heaven rather than being controlled by the spirit of the worldly systems. They have embraced the power of love rather than the love of power. They have seen the reality beyond the visible and embraced it.

By faith we understand that the entire universe was formed at God’s command, that what we now see did not come from anything that can be seen. Hebrews 11:3

Of course, they were misunderstood. Their reality was not confined to the test tube or reasonable observation of physical phenomena. They saw what only faith can see. When they embraced the word from God, their imaginations were filled with new perspectives. They were changed all right, but not from moral exhortations. They were changed first in their imaginations by receiving a new revelation. This happened by hearing and embracing the word of God.

In other words. When they heard the word of God with obedient hearts, they saw what he was saying, and lived differently because of it.

For instance, Noah heard the word of God and though he had never seen rain, much less a flood, and he built a large boat. How strange. His neighbors made fun of him for 120 years. What kind of nonsense was he talking about? He had seen the future reality because he believed the word from God, and he prepared in view of what he saw.

Or look at Abraham. He heard God’s command and believed. He somehow saw the reality beyond the visible to the extent that he was never settled in the physical land of promise. There was another realm that held his attention. He was looking for the eternal city. (Hebrews 11:10)

Wanna be famous? For eternity? There is a sure-fire way. Believe that there is a God who lives to bless his people. He has spoken. His word is authoritative and alive. Hear it and believe it. Your spiritual eyes will open and you can see the reality that surpasses the obvious. Live on that basis and you will be different. Probably mistreated. Surely misunderstood. But famous forever.