How many episodes of ‘Friends’ I watched: The true measure of success

The final episode of the television sitcom Friends
aired on this day in 2004. It was watched by more than fifty-two million
viewers.

I was not one of them.

I don’t think I saw ten minutes of any of the 236 episodes. In honor of today’s anniversary, I took a trivia quiz about the show, but I didn’t know the answer to a single question. You might do better.

This is not an unusual experience for me. When Janet and I
order salads at restaurants, I always give her my cucumbers. I would much rather
drive a 1965 Mustang fastback than a 2020 Ferrari (not that I own either one).
I’ll take an episode of Hogan’s Heroes over Modern Family any
day.

Fortunately, as Indira Gandhi noted, “Popularity is not
a guarantee of quality.” Abraham Lincoln added, “Avoid popularity if
you would have peace.”

The true measure of success

Jesus warned his disciples, “Woe to you, when all
people speak well of you, for so their fathers did to the false prophets”
(Luke 6:26). Paul testified, “If I were still trying to please man, I
would not be a servant of Christ” (Galatians 1:10). Scripture states,
“Friendship with the world is enmity with God” (James 4:4).

At the same time, we are called to “make disciples of
all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Paul said of himself, “I have become
all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for
the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings” (1
Corinthians 9:22–23).

We are clearly called to reach the multitudes with God’s
word and love. At the same time, we are not to measure success by popularity.
How do we balance these two facts?

Richard Niebuhr’s classic Christ and Culture defines
various ways Christians have historically related to society. One of them,
“Christ of culture,” is the…