Who is Jake Phelps?

Who is Jake Phelps? And why is he tagging my neighbor’s fence?  While I don’t actually know Jake Phelps, I know OF Jake Phelps.  He is one of the 86% of American youths that would rather be famous than go to school, get a job, become a doctor, lawyer, or astronaut. That is a 32% increase since 2010. 

It would be easy to blame social media for this upswing, but that isn’t truly the case. Social media may provide a new venue, but only 9% of Americans work in a “fame” industry. That’s just the industry, that does NOT equate to being famous so even with social media the odds aren’t in your favor. 

Faced with the choice of anonymity or the chance at recognition of some kind, people are literally dying to be famous. This reminds me of Young Guns, the 1988 action/western film, when Billy the Kid laughs hysterically prior to murdering someone and cackles, “I’ll make ya famous.” If that even had one hint of truth to it, we would know his victims instead of Billy the Kid. 

 

In the early 1980s, a man attempted to assassinate two former Presidents in order to impress a famous actress and “level-up” to her notoriety.  So we see this isn’t a new problem, but sitting in the wake of yet another school shooting, it is a problem worthy of being readdressed. And frankly, guns aren’t the problem, it’s the people pulling the trigger that are the problem.

An Institute for Violence Prevention study concluded, “Many of our insights have come from analyzing the violent fantasies of adolescent shooters. These imaginings take root in a desperate mind that yearns for recognition. Often these young assassins are inspired by examples set by previous shooters. The fantasies typically intensify over a number of years before they are acted on. With time, the mental images become more detailed, and they often become buttressed by a distorted sense of what is just or moral, such as the need to avenge a perceived offense or the belief in a divine right to decide the fate of others.”

In a fast food must have right now society, people forget to look at the consequences of their actions.  They fail to see, it's not a movie, they don’t actually have divine authority and these fantasies never have a happy ending!  In reality, they end with death or at best incarceration. And sadly, if they actually achieved this desperately sought after fame, it wouldn’t or couldn’t even live up to expectations created in the mind. Ecclesiastes 1:8 says, “All things are wearisome, more than one can say. The eye never has enough of seeing, nor the ear its fill of hearing.” George Sanders was famous. He had 4 incredibly glamorous wives and even won an Oscar. Yet he committed suicide and in his note he stated, “I am bored.”  

People want to be seen, to be heard, to know they matter and that their life has a purpose, but fame doesn’t and can’t provide that - GOD DOES.

He sees you: 

Matthew 10:29-31

“Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”

He hears you:

Psalm 18:6

“In my distress I called to the Lord; I cried to my God for help. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry came before him, into his ears.

He has a plan and a purpose for you:

Jeremiah 29:11

“‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’”

With God kicked out of school and so many public places, what can we do to get the Word out? Well naturally, this is something that first starts in the home. Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it.”  May your child be a light in a dark place!  

But there are so many homes where God is not welcome yet, what else can we do?  As tempting as it may seem, we cannot force feed the Word, but we can set such a loving example that it would be impossible to not notice that something is different. Be willing to share without concern of earthly opinion and be a conduit of Jesus.  Stop! Look! Listen to what and who He is asking you to reach out to! Don’t let Jake Phelps trade his spray paint for a weapon!

Compliment a stranger - I see you. Comment on a social media post - I hear you. And perhaps hardest of all, be ready to pause your plans. Don’t be so focused on your to-do pick-list that you ignore the nudge from Jesus to stop and spend a moment with a person so that they will know - Jesus says...You Matter!!