The more famous someone becomes, the harder it is to cultivate and retain virtue. The bigger your image, the more it tends to eclipse your character. In today’s social media world, instead of building character, many people just build image.

A celebrity is known for what he does in one area of life, while God looks at who we are in all areas of our lives. The most important part of our lives is the part that only God sees (1 Samuel 16:7; 1 Peter 3:3-4).

How many people do we admire from a distance, but when we see them up close we lose respect for them? Others you don’t admire until you get to know them and then they gain your respect. A great goal is that as people know us better, they would respect us more, not less.

Here are five principles about image and character:

1. Image and character are two very different things.

Image is what you are in public, when you have an audience. Character is what you are in the dark, when no one but God is looking. He is never fooled. We can’t con Him.

What are the traits it takes to get and stay famous? In many cases the answer includes a mammoth ego, self-absorption, and an impassioned craving for public approval. The very traits that compel someone to pursue fame and social approval both reflect and produce a private inner life lacking in substance and integrity.

Anyone can look good in front of an audience, or even in front of their friends. It’s an entirely different thing to stand naked before God, to be known as you truly are on the inside. “Do not consider his appearance or his height . . . The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

On judgment day, I won’t stand before literary critics or book-lovers, and you won’t stand before your critics or greatest fans. We’ll all stand before the Audience of One. And in that day it will be His assessment of our lives, and no one else’s, that will matter.

2. A hero and a celebrity are not synonymous.

Fame is one thing. Virtue is another. The two aren’t even remotely related. In fact, the more famous you become, the harder it is to cultivate and retain virtue. Being a hero is something entirely different than being a celebrity. Celebrities are just people with good looks, talent, money, and the ability to draw attention to themselves. Heroes are people who stand courageously for what is right, often against the tide of public opinion, and at great cost to themselves. (It takes a lot more sacrifice to be a hero than to be a celebrity!)

Many public figures have proven long on image and short on character, just as many faithful servants of God have been short on image and long on character. When you and I stand before God and give an account of our lives, the ability to run with a football or manage a company or write an article will mean nothing. Our dependence on Christ to cleanse us of our sins and empower us to a new way of living will mean everything.

3. There’s a world of difference between a self-made man or woman, and a God-made man or woman.

We value those who are independent. God values the person who is dependent on Him. We value those who march to their own beat. God values those who march to His beat. We value a man who is his own authority, who makes up the rules as he goes. God values a man who submits, who follows those unbending ancient rules made by Another. We value those who believe in themselves, who make themselves great. God values those who believe in Him, recognizing He alone is truly great.

4. High self-esteem isn’t the same as accurate self-esteem.

People often say, “I can’t believe that [insert name of a person in the news] is capable of such evil.” Of course he is. So are you. So am I. We’ve fallen for the old lie, propagated by secular humanism and modern psychology, that mankind is basically good. But we’re terribly arrogant and naive to believe this. Read Romans 1-3 and see what God says about the human condition. Look at human history. Look around you. We’re all capable of horrendous evil. The man who thinks he is incapable of adultery and crimes of hatred and passion is not on guard against them, and does not call upon Christ to save him from them.

Years ago I read a fascinating and chilling book by Robert Lifton titled The Nazi Doctors. As a psychologist interviewing former Nazi doctors and their surviving victims, he hoped to discover what made these “monsters” tick. What he discovered was much more frightening—the fact that these were in fact quite ordinary men who, given the opportunity, did horribly evil things. As long as we consider the Nazis monsters, we can separate ourselves from them. It’s only when we realize that we ourselves are of the same stock that we can come to terms with our capacity for evil and our desperate need for Jesus.

Proper self-esteem is stated in Romans 12:3: “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment.” Sober judgment means accurate judgment. Correct self-image is seeing ourselves as God sees us. He created us, so we have purpose. He loves us, so we have value. But we are sinners, bent on evil (Romans 3). Our nature as sinners separates us from God. If we embrace the atoning sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf, we become new creatures in Christ and are covered with his righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:17,21). As such, a correct self-esteem for the Christian means seeing ourselves as we are, forgiven and made holy by the merit of Christ.

5. Learn to distinguish Hollywood values from the values that really matter.

First John 2:15-17 warns us to “not love the world” by becoming attached to its unrighteous values and temptations, which lead to spiritual compromise, decay, and idolatry. “Worldliness” often involves love for “worldly wisdom” that comes from pride and rebellion against God (1 Corinthians 1:20-21, Colossians 2:8). James 4:4 tells us “friendship with the world makes you an enemy of God.”

Rather than subtly adopt the world’s values, may God’s people commit themselves to being faithful in their homes and churches and communities and society. Small acts of daily faithfulness to Jesus don’t make the news. But they matter much more than what does. Scripture says “Whatever we do, we should do it for the Lord and not men. Whatever we do, we should do it all to the glory of God.” He’s the king—we’re the servants. We are all called to be servants. God says, “It is required of a steward that he be found faithful.”

Commitment to Christ will give our children, our churches, and our society an example to follow unmatched by that of any celebrity. A life enthusiastically applauded in the final day by the only audience that ultimately matters . . . the Audience of One.