Applause

So there is a Lady Gaga song on the radio right now, and all it talks about is how she lives for the applause of her fans and peers.  That song seemed really sad to me after I got to thinking about the implications and meanings.  It is a catchy tune, and once you hear it, it is STUCK in your brain and won't go away while you are trying to sleep, but it is still sad.  If all she is living for is the applause of others, she will never be satisfied.

Then I got to thinking about other people that call themselves Christians (myself included). Do we really live for the approval of God or the applause of others? Do we do things for others because we know we are being Jesus to a hurting people or because the pastor will be proud of us and the church members will talk about how good we are?  Do we go to church because it satisfies our need to fellowship with God or because we get approval for being faithful?

I tend to go out of my way not to be like others because I don't like cookie cutter people, and I tend to get applauded for that, for just being myself. Now I could let that applause go to my head and go to more and more extremes to "just be different", but I would be exactly like Lady Gaga. She goes to extremes to shock her fans and hope that they approve of her methods.  I think its a little crazy to show up to an awards ceremony in an egg, but her goal was to shock and I was shocked and therefore she got the applause she craved so badly, but after that show was done, the applause and shock died, and now she has to think of even more shocking methods to get applauded, to fulfill that craving.

I have nothing against Lady Gaga at all, but I do think it is important for us as individuals to examine our motivation behind the things we do.  If we are just living for the applause like the song says, we will never be satisfied.  If we do our Christian deeds because we know Christ will approve of us, then we will know true satisfaction.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Monday!