Faith Over Fame: The True Prize of the Called

A prophetic call to return from the marketplace to the mountain

prize Has the Church in the West mistaken applause for anointing? Have we confused divine favour with digital following?

In an era where ministries are marketed and faith is monetised, the Spirit of God is still crying out, “Stand by the roads, and look, and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it.” (Jer 6:16)

This is not merely nostalgia. It is a summons. A trumpet blast to a generation that has learned to polish the altar but forgotten how to weep upon it.

The Refusal That Spoke Volumes

Forrest Frank - an American Christian singer, songwriter and producer from Texas - recently hit the headlines when he controversially¹ boycotted the 2025 Dove Awards in Nashville - the Christian music industry’s biggest annual accolade. He did so on the grounds that he didn’t feel right receiving “a trophy for something that is from Jesus and for Jesus. … The real prize”, he continued “is to be named in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

This was not an act of quiet humility alone, it was a prophetic rebuke to the idol of recognition that has crept into the sanctuary.
In an industry obsessed with visibility, Frank’s silence thundered. While others prepared acceptance speeches, Forrest prepared his heart before the Lord. While some competed for crowns that tarnish, he fixed his eyes on a Kingdom where the Lamb alone is worthy to receive honour and glory (Rev 5:12).

In an industry obsessed with visibility, Frank’s silence thundered.

This one act unmasks the contrast between two systems -

The Kingdom of men
The Kingdom of God.

One chases trophies that gather dust; the other pursues an enduring testimony.

Two Kingdoms, Two Metrics

The Western Church has learned to build empires in the name of ministry. Sermons have become content streams. Worship has become pure industry. Ministers are branded, scheduled, and promoted.

We have, in many places, traded revelation for revenue and calling for career.

But Heaven does not measure success in numbers, charts or followers. The divine metric has never changed: faithfulness, obedience, and holiness.

The divine metric has never changed: faithfulness, obedience, and holiness.

Yeshua never once told His disciples to

“Grow their reach.” He said, “Follow Me.”
“Go viral.” He said, “Go and make disciples.” (Matt 28:19)

In the Book of Acts, fruit was measured by transformation, not traction. When Simon the sorcerer offered money for spiritual power, Peter’s voice cut through the centuries: “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!” (Acts 8:20)

Today the temptation is subtler, yet the sin is the same, to use spiritual influence for earthly validation.

When Ministry Becomes a Marketplace

I recently heard of a church that invited a speaker to share the message at a Sunday service. Soon thereafter, that church received a letter – with an invoice for the sermon preached – a not inconsiderable sum for a relatively small congregation.

The Spirit moves when hearts are surrendered, not when markets are ready.

The warning rings clear: revelation has been replaced by scheduling, Spirit-led obedience replaced by corporate strategy. But the Spirit does not submit to a publishing calendar. It moves when hearts are surrendered, not when markets are ready.

When the sacred becomes scheduled, it loses its scent of holiness. When the altar becomes a stage, the oil stops flowing. Revelation will never be managed, it must be received.

The early apostles understood this. They waited until the Spirit said, “Set apart for Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” (Acts 13:2) Not until the Spirit spoke; not when it was convenient, not when the budget allowed.

We, too, must recover that posture, the willingness to wait.

The Approved Church

There is a kind of success that Heaven calls failure and there is a kind of obscurity that Heaven calls faithfulness.

We, too, must recover that posture, the willingness to wait.

The awarded Church:

celebrates talent,
seeks recognition from men
counts streams and follower
counts streams and followers

The approved Church

embodies obedience.
seeks revelation from God.

“What is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:15)

Forrest Frank's turning down of a Dove award is not anti-excellence, it is anti-idolatry. It is the refusal to let earthly honours obscure eternal identity. He has chosen to sing for the Audience of One, to trade the stage for the secret place, the platform for the Presence. And Heaven notices.

The True Prize

The Lamb’s Book of Life is not a shortlist, it is a covenant. It contains no categories, no nominations, and no applause. Its ink is blood, not branding. Its reward is eternal fellowship, not fleeting fame. Paul once wrote, “Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize?” (1 Cor 9:24).

The prize is not prominence, it is perseverance.

He was not describing competition, he was describing consecration. The prize is not prominence, it is perseverance. Not recognition, but redemption. To have our names written in Heaven (Luke 10:20) - that is the only accolade truly worth living for.

A Call to the Faithful Remnant

Beloved, we stand at a crossroads. We can continue to chase relevance, or we can return to reverence. We can seek to be known by men, or we can live to be known by God.

The Spirit is calling God’s people back to simplicity, back to the place where ministry is not a means to success, but an act of worship. To the place where giving is not strategy, but surrender, where words are not content, but revelation, where worship is not performance, but presence.

This is the ancient path. It is the way of those who have gone before; Abraham who built altars, not brands; Moses who hid in the cleft of the rock, not under the spotlight; John the Baptist who said, “He must increase, I must decrease.” (John 3:30)

The Spirit is separating the celebrated from the consecrated. God is calling the Bride out of the marketplace and back to the mountain.

Teach us to labour not for crowns that fade, but for Your eternal commendation.

A Prophetic Prayer of Return

O Holy One of Israel, forgive us. We have turned Your house into a platform, Your Word into product, Your glory into performance. We have sought applause instead of approval. We have desired visibility more than vision.

Overturn our tables again, Lord Yeshua. Drive out every spirit of commerce, competition, and compromise from Your Church. Teach us to labour not for crowns that fade, but for Your eternal commendation.

Mark us again with the fire of the altar, Seal our hearts with the name that endures. And write us, not in the annals of men, but in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

The Glory That Cannot Be Bought

The monetisation of the modern Church reveals a deeper sickness, a shift from dependence to performance, from presence to publicity. But the Father is restoring the heart of true worship: where the Spirit leads, the Bride follows, and the Lamb alone is glorified.

Do not measure your worth by worldly success. Measure it by your nearness to Him.

Do not measure your worth by worldly success. Measure it by your nearness to Him. For the crowns of this world will be melted in His fire, but the names written in His book will shine forever.

“He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.” (Rev 3:5)

The time for marketplace faith is over. The moment for mountain faith has come.

The true prize is not to be applauded by men, but to be approved by God.

The only award worth receiving is the smile of the Lamb.

Endnote

¹ ^{Other musicians have noted something of a double standard in that Frank seems quite happy to “take the (millions of dollars) profits from something that is from Jesus for Jesus.” Ironically, the only way Frank won Artist of The Year was through personally submitting his music to the Gospel Music Association.}

Image by Pete Linforth from Pixabay

Nick Thompson, 21/10/2025