The Teenage God of Popularity

The first of the ten commandments clearly exhorts, “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” In spite of this command, many teenagers put popularity ahead of God, thus the teenage “god” of popularity.
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Whether you are a parent, pastor, youth worker, or a teen yourself, many of the problems that must be dealt with in relating to young folks can be traced to the teenager’s desire to be popular. We recognize that drugs, alcohol, and even premarital sex are often driven by peer pressure. But what about the basic issues of showing love for one another? Consider the young lady in the youth group who gets ignored by the other girls because she doesn’t quite fit in. Consider the young man who becomes so preoccupied with sports that he forgets about his relationship with God just because he wants others to think well of him. Consider the parent, pastor, or youth worker who sets a bad example in these same areas by putting a premium on popularity in their own lives.
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The quest for popularity is not just about the party atmosphere, it can be as simple as a put down in order to make yourself look good. You see there are many little foxes that spoil the vine.
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As we consider the players in the popularity game we would do well to consider how popular Jesus Christ was. He had friends and even disciples who followed and learned from Him, but was He really popular in our way of thinking? Isaiah 53:3 tells us, “He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.”
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Sure, He had a lot of friends, but He was not popular in a fashionable sense. It reminds me somewhat of my years at a small Bible college. If the students there were asked who was the most popular, and then they were asked who had the most friends, I suspect they would have given a different list. You see, in the world’s mind, popular is fashionable, cool, and trendy. It really has little to do even with how likeable a person is. It is actually less about how many friends one has and more about how many people they think want to be their friend.
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Some of the popular people are likeable, but others actually attain that status by being rude and unlikeable. Then there are those who would not be considered popular because they are not necessarily trendy, but because of their love and kindness to others they have many friends. This quickly shows that there are actually two kinds of popularity. A godly popularity, and the popularity of the world.
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If a popularity is actually godly, it would never compete with the true God for position. What really must be discouraged among both teenagers and adults, is the sort of popularity that puts pride ahead of God. Essentially, this is the root of the problem. The lust for popularity becomes self idolatry. Pride says we are more important than God. We must be reminded that idolatry is about more than just graven images, it is also about trying to take glory and attention that is reserved only for God. “I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.” Isaiah 42:8
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In many ways the popularity challenge is really a priority challenge. What is more important, the love of God or the pride of life? 1 John 2:15-17 is very clear, “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.”
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Matthew 22:37-39: “Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.“ When man pursues popularity at the expense of these great commands, he is putting the world and all it has ahead of God.
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So is it really that bad to put the world ahead of God? James 4:4 answers that question, “Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” No doubt it is a serious matter to be an enemy of God. Common sense as well as godly sense says it would be better to be an enemy of this world than an enemy of God. Our Lord Jesus Christ tells us the same in John 15:19, “If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.”
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So what are parents, pastors, youth workers, and teens to do in a world that puts such a premium on popularity. No doubt the advice to Timothy is appropriate, “Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season.” The sad truth is that instead of preaching godly principles, parents and others often end up pressuring young people to be popular. Dads and moms, do you really know what you are asking your children to do? If you push them to live up to your worldly ideal, you are pushing them to be God’s enemy.
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Parents, pastors, youth workers and godly teens must not only teach with words, but they must teach by example. How can we expect the next generation to overcome this challenge if we fail at it. Do we recognize the danger of pride in our own lives? Do we act like we always have to be the center of attention? Are we willing to shun worldliness in our lives? Are we willing to be seen with unpopular social outcasts? How can we expect the youth to mortify their sinful nature if we are not willing to do the same?
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“And these things, brethren, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that ye might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another.” 1 Corinthians 4:6