The new year 2017 arrives on Sunday and with a new year comes a lot of new resolve and new goals and renewed life purpose. And that's all a good thing. In the vein of this discussion we have an email question over social media platforms in the pursuit of Christian fame.

If we can even talk about fame that way, Christian fame. Daniel writes and asks this, "Pastor John, is it a sin to desire to be famous? In this day of blogging, Instagram stories, and all the social media outlets out there, I feel like I'm seeing this growing desire to be famous, even Christian famous.

To be well known and well liked and shared and to have something on the side that gives you life purpose. I see this especially in mothers with young children. What are some red flags in this digital age for Christians who might desire to be well known for their books or blogs or podcasts or sermons or images or anything that they produce online?" What would you say, Pastor John, to Daniel?

Is it a sin to desire to be famous? Yes, it is. Though it may not be a sin to desire to be influential. And the problem arises when the pleasure sought in being made much of is greater than the pleasure sought in being of service. So there's the rub.

It's not a sin to desire that those who know us think well of us, provided that our hope and our prayer and our effort is that they will see the grace of God in us and give glory to God. And in that sense, make much of us or think rightly or well of us.

Jesus said, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good deeds and give glory to your Father in heaven." That's a great challenge. Proverbs 22, 1 says, "A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches and favor. Favor with other people is better than silver or gold." So no one should desire to be known as a fool or a thief or a braggart or a glutton or a loafer or lustful.

None of this would adorn the doctrine of God with our behavior, which is what behavior is for in God's economy. We should want our lives to commend the truth that we profess. So the good name that is rather to be chosen is to be known as a person who has found God all satisfying.

That's what makes a human good name—to be known as a person who has found God's promises completely trustworthy and the person whose joy is overflowing, even in the suffering, in the pursuit of other people's joy in God. That's what a good name is in the fullest biblical sense. So I say, yes, it is a sin to want to be famous—that is, to want to be known by more and more people who will make much of us and praise us.

It's a deadly craving of the fallen human ego to want to be made much of, even for the good that we do, let alone the evil that we do. If you think this is contrary to the teaching of Galatians 4.18 that says in the ESV it's good to be made much of, I wrote an article about that called "Thoughts on Being Made Much of" at the Desiring God website.

I'm not going to talk about that again here, but it's not a contradiction, and you can see why. Jesus seems to be more concerned about this than many other things. He said, "Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven." Now, I think that's about as clear as you can make it.

Don't do what you do in order to get the reward of human fame, because then you won't have the reward of God. He explicitly indicted the Pharisees in Matthew 23.5, "They do all their deeds to be seen by others." And then Matthew 6, of course, gives three examples of how not to do this, or how to avoid that kind of Pharisaic mistake.

He says in verse 2, "Thus when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others, that they may be famous. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward." Or verse 5 and 6, "When you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others, that they may be famous.

Truly I say to you, they have received their reward." When you pray, go into your room, shut the door, pray to your Father who's in secret. Your Father who sees in secret will reward you. And then again, third time, verse 16, "When you fast, don't look gloomy like the hypocrites.

They disfigure their faces, that their fasting may be seen by others, that they may be famous. Truly I say to you, they have received their reward." So all those warnings, it seems to me, are meant to give us tests to see if God is our true reward. All of them say, "If you seek satisfaction in man's praise, you will not have your Father's reward." The whole focus is on where's your heart, where's your treasure?

Is it in fame, or is it in God? And remember, Jesus said to his disciples, after a remarkably impactful ministry, influential ministry of triumph over the devil, he said, "Nevertheless, do not rejoice in this, that the spirits are subject to you. Rejoice that your names are written in heaven." In other words, is God your reward, or is successful ministry your God?

But let's end where we began. Yes, it is a sin to want to be famous. However, it may not be a sin to want to be influential. In fact, it may be a sin not to want to be influential. We should want to win more and more people to Christ.

I think it's a sin not to want our lives to count for winning more and more people to Christ. We should want to do more and more good to relieve suffering, and especially eternal suffering. I love the quote of John Wesley. At least he's credited with saying this. I haven't tracked it down to the actual source, but here's what lots of people say he says.

He said, "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can." I love it. Yes. In other words, have a great impact in doing good for people.

And Paul saw his ministry as God's instrument of blessing in the lives of an ever-increasing number of people. 2 Corinthians 1.11, he said, "You must help us by prayer so that many will give thanks on our behalf." In other words, owing to our ministry and influence, many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.

But let's all admit how deadly difficult this distinction is. Wanting to be a blessing to more and more people on the one hand, whether through social media or however, and wanting to be known and made much of by more and more people—deadly difficult. But that's precisely where the battle must be fought, in our own hearts.

It's the difference between the mind of the flesh and the mind of the spirit. This is precisely where we need to do battle. Do we find satisfaction in the praise of men, or do we find satisfaction in God himself and an ever-increasing number of people finding that same satisfaction in God?

So valuable. Pastor John, this is such an important conversation for digital creators to have, at least once a year, to check our own hearts about why we want to influence people through the books we write, the articles we publish, and the social media feeds where we invest so much time.

Well, that is for us a wrap for 2016, our fourth year of podcasting. It's a good time to thank you for listening, for making us a part of your weekly routine. Of course, this podcast exists because God has given us some prayer warriors over this ministry, and he's given us some very generous financial donors behind all of our labors, behind everything that we publish at DesiringGod.org.

If that's you, if you are a supporter of the ministry, I want to say thank you for helping us out. And if you would like to become a financial supporter of the ministry, you can go to our online home at DesiringGod.org/donate. I'm your host, Tony Reinke, and I'll see you on Monday, the first Monday of 2017, and we will kick off year number five on the podcast.

See you then. DesiringGod.org