Print or Email

TheDiscipleMD

Jimmered- (verb) the act of getting burned or juked

Jimmer has resurfaced as a participant in the Summer Olympics. Seeing his name in the news reminded me of a trip to New York I took in 2011.

My dad, brother, and I happened to pass through the hometown of BYU basketball star Jimmer Fredette. He won every conceivable college basketball award that year, so being fans, we stopped into his hometown to get a bite to eat. As we walked into our eatery of choice, Pizza Hut, my brother asked the waitress if she knew Jimmer Fredette. Her reply once again cemented in my mind the nature of how fame can be so fleeting…and fickle. She replied to my brother, “Sure, everyone knows of him, he’s a hometown boy”, then she finished her sentence, “…but it’s baseball season now!” Wow! We were no more than 3 months from the end of the basketball season and this waitress was already essentially saying, “He’s old news”. I have followed professional athletes my entire life. I have now lived sufficient time to follow not only the entire careers of some athletes but also their sons’ professional careers. What I have discovered in so doing is how easily the “gladiators” of yesteryear are forgotten. While on stage, the crowds will cheer, but once you are no longer there, the fickleness of fame is that for almost everyone, it is O-V-E-R!

This “fame” of which I speak is the fame of the world, given by man, preserved by man, and in most cases, taken away by man. I am reminded of a more important type of fame spoken of in holy writ:

He “left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people…”

The fame of which this refers to is everlasting. It is a fame that will save and exalt. This “heavenly” fame is often gained, not in the glorious areas of the world, but while serving on the humble streets of cities and towns in which we live. It is this fame that will pass through the ages of time. It is this fame that will accompany one beyond the grave. A number of years ago James Faust said these inspiring words:

“Your future may not hold fame or fortune, but it can be something far more lasting and fulfilling. Remember that what we do in life echoes in eternity.” (“It Can’t Happen to Me”, April 2002, GC).

Having talents and abilities in this life can be a wonderful gift from the Lord. Our talents can be used in many different ways to further the work. But let us not forget that our gifts and talents are given not only to bless our lives but to build up the kingdom. If we don’t use our gifts wisely, the day will come when our talents fade and the world’s bright lights will shine on someone else. If we are not careful, we might find, in the end, that we have “Jimmered” ourselves out of eternal life.