What matters?

Stephen J. Cannell, the prolific television producer, just passed away this week at the age of 59. As the man most directly responsible for Adam-12, The A-Team, The Rockford Files, 21 Jump Street, The Greatest American Hero, and Baretta, Cannell most certainly had a strong impact on American popular culture.

Looking at his legacy forces people like me to ask whether I, as a Christian, am having anything like that sort of impact for the glory of God. But there’s the rub. If we define success by worldly standards, we would have to say that pastors of small churches, stay-at-home mothers, and even local radio hosts don’t really matter too much. And we can choose to let this bother us.

But if we then realize that leading a single person to Christ has more eternal significance than all the plays of Shakespeare, perhaps we don’t feel quite so insignificant. And even if all we do is praise God and do whatever He assigns us to the best of our ability, it’s comforting to know that this pleases Him just as much as if we’d shaped an entire pop culture through television shows.