We definitely live in a celebrity culture. How many industries-from sports talk to memorabilia sales-are manufactured on the backs of a culture that can't get enough scoop or goods on today's headline makers? We know they're just people, but somehow we're willing to let them be larger-than-life. It's in our cultural DNA.

Earlier this year I happened to be in the city of Barcelona and spent a day visiting some of its historic sights. When she found out I was a minister, a woman sitting next to me en route to Spain recommended that I visit Temple Sagrada Familia, a gargantuan eighteenth-century cathedral. The architect at whose feet the acclaim is laid for this structure was the renowned Antoni Gaudi.

We have become so conscious of having nothing to offer to earn our salvation (which of course we don't), that we've translated that into "there's nothing we can give God that will please Him." That's utterly false-we're not saved by good works, but God has prepared for us a lifetime of good works (Eph. 2:8-10), which are our gifts to Him.

Jesus told a story about three men, each presented with an allotment of money to handle in the way they thought best. Two of the men took their share, invested it wisely, and earned a 100% return. But the third man, afraid to risk any loss, buried his money in the ground. Rather than feeling free to be creative with what God had given, rather than enjoying a relationship with his master that gave him room to try and fail, he was always looking over his shoulder, motivated less by success and more by avoiding punishment. He thought of his boss as a “hard man” (Matthew 25:24), itching to crush anyone who crossed him. You never knew what might set him off.

Just when some in leadership thought the Korean War was all but over, American troops approaching the North Korean border were surprised by a blistering, middle-of-the-night ambush from the Chinese army. One of the platoons drew back into a dry creek bed, hoping to weather the assault. But realizing they had only made themselves easier targets by yielding the high ground, they began urging each other out. Better to risk death on the run than get it guaranteed in a ditch.