What do John MacArthur, Mark Driscoll and Bill Gothard all have in common? I know you’re probably thinking nothing right?
Wrong!
What they have in common are followers who are dedicated to these men and their teaching in a way that borders on idolatry! Honestly I could name many more celebrity Christians but those where just the first three that popped into my mind.
I was reminded of the problem of celebrity Christian leaders recently as I was reading about the Bill Gothard scandal. One of the reasons Gothard could make sexual advances on young girls for so many years was simply because so many people followed him in a fanatical unquestioning way.
The truth is that even if the leader doesn’t fall morally, bad things happen when we elevate Christian leaders to a place where only Jesus should be!
This is not new
At first I was tempted to think that this type of stardom in Christianity was something new and a result of our Hollywood fixation on the life of the rich and famous. However my friend Justin noted in a comment,
“Do you think this is a new phenomenon, only with present leaders? How about people like David Livingstone or others who are often called “Hero’s of the faith?” Do you think there is a distinction between calling them “Hero’s,” as the cover of the biography my kids are reading does, and turning them into idols?”
Of course Justin is correct, this is not a new phenomenon. In fact you can find it in the Bible.
When Peter entered, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. But Peter lifted him up, saying, “Stand up; I too am a man.”
(Act 10:25-26)Or here
And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in Lycaonian, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!”
(Act 14:11)Or here
They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.
(Act 28:6)
What should be noted about the above instances is the responses of those to whom the worship was directed. Peter stated it plainly.
“I too am a man.”
When Paul and Barnabas realized that people were starting to worship them their response was immediate and passionate!
“They tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out,
Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you.” (Acts 14:14-15)
Paul’s response in Acts 28 isn’t recorded but I suspect it was similar to how he and Barnabas responded earlier.
It was a problem for the early church
Paul reprimanded the church in Corinth for following after teachers in the church. This type of fandom created discord in the church.
What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.”
(1Co 1:12)For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not being merely human?
What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. (ICo 3:4-5)
Paul uses the entirety of 1 Cor 3 to explain why we shouldn’t follow after other human teachers and then he sums it up with one verse that puts it all into perspective.
This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God.
(1Co 4:1)
That is how you and I and every member of the body of Christ ought to relate to our teachers, pastors and spiritual leaders. They aren’t super star Christians endowed by God with unique insight into God’s Word, they don’t have special status in God’s mind and they shouldn’t have it in ours either!
It happened in Church history
Throughout church history there has often been a tendency to focus too much attention and adoration on the messenger instead of the message!
Steve Lawson gives a great example of the 18th century English preacher George Whitfield. It seems that many who heard him revered him in a way that bordered on worship. Lawson gives this description of a farmer named Mr. Cole in his book The Evangelistic Zeal of George Whitefield.
“When I saw Mr. Whitefield come upon the scaffold, he looked almost angelic.” He described Whitefield as “a young, slim, slender youth before thousands of people, and with bold undaunted countenance.” The talk circulating among the crowd was, “God was with him everywhere.”
As Whitefield began to preach, Cole sensed a great fear gripping his soul. The preaching came with much power upon this farmers’ unconverted heart. Cole said the young preacher “looked as if he was clothed with authority from the Great God, and sweet solemnity sat upon his brow.”
Now honestly that seems a little overboard to me! People worshiped Whitefield so much that they left his casket open for viewing for over 50 years after his death! At one point someone even stole his right arm but it was returned a number years later!
On thing we can learn based on how often this happened in the Bible and in history is that man longs for someone visible that he can worship! I’m sure that Whitefield would have condemned the way people “venerated” his corpse.
If leaders are not careful they can unintentionally create unhealthy followings of themselves.
The dangers of celebrity Christians
There are many reasons why it is so dangerous to turn our Christian leaders into celebrities and here are a few of them.
It will make you discontent with your own pastor
This is a problem I often see. When people start following after the big names in Christianity they quickly start comparing the pastor of their local church to their favorite mega-church pastor. It’s really an unfair comparison to make because chances are your pastor doesn’t have someone on staff who does all his research for him, or edits all his sermons into books, or takes care of all the counselling needs so that he can focus 100% on studying for his next sermon.
It’s also unfair because that celebrity Christian leader doesn’t have a personal relationship with you like your local church pastor does. We tend to think the celebrities are better because we only see their “good side”. The side they want us to see. That’s why they seem so amazing but the fact is that they are human and they are flawed and they probably have a few ugly parts of their character that you haven’t seen.
On the other hand your local church pastor can’t hide from you as much, you can know him better and he can know you. That means you can see some of this faults but in a gracious local church body that’s OK because that’s how we grow!
It will make you discontent with your local church
This really goes with the first problem of comparing your pastor to the celebrity pastor. It’s easy to see everything wrong with your church and think that if only they did things like _______ Church it would make everything better!
The fact is that every church has a character of its own. Like people, every church has its strengths and weakness’. Chances are that your church of 100 members isn’t going to be able to support the same type or number of programs that your celebrity pastor’s church of 10,000 members does!
And that’s OK! After all God doesn’t judge any church by their programs.
It may cause the leader you’re following to become prideful
Just remember what happened to Herod and read these verses -Acts 12:22-23!
It’s a bad testimony to unbelievers
For some reason unbelievers can smell this kind of thing and they usually despise it. They can’t figure out why people are so fanatical about Pastor _____. They think it’s stupid and they’re right! Better to let them think you stupid for following Jesus instead!
His teaching may be good but it’s probably missing something
It’s always dangerous to limit your teaching to one person. To grow properly in your faith and your understanding of God’s Word it is vital that you put Scripture and personal study at the core. The teaching of your local church should come next and after that you can supplement it with the teaching of others.
If your favorite celebrity Christian falls you’ll be devastated
It’s always bad when a Christian leader falls morally but it’s much worse for those who idolized him and were dedicated followers. The best way to avoid this is by making sure it is Jesus you are following and not Pastor _____!
Jesus will never fail you!
It takes your eyes of Jesus and puts them on a man
This is the big one! I’ll just say it like this, we are called to follow Jesus and not celebrity Christian leaders!
Do I need to say more? I hope not!
Let’s be grateful for the teaching of well known men in the church but let’s let them remain just that
-men in the church!
Bill (cycleguy)
July 1, 2014I went through a period where I wanted to preach just like Swindoll or MacArthur. I quickly found out I am not them. The most free-ing thing was to find that out and to realize I am only called to be what God wants me to be. You definitely make a good case for not idolizing man. I am fortunate because, for the most part, the people here do not listen to many radio or TV preachers so they don’t know how bad I am (or how good depending on your perspective). 🙂
Caleb
July 2, 2014It never quite works out that well when you’re trying to copy another preacher’s style. I can sympathize with your feelings Bill. It’s easy to watch some of the big name preachers and think, “if only I could preach like that”. In the end I think on MacArthur is enough and I’m glad that God has gifted us all slightly differently in our communication styles and passions.
You are indeed fortunate!
Kari Scare
July 1, 2014My pastor says that Christian television is not for the new Christian and even the more established Christian needs to be cautious. Personally, I don’t watch it. But, there are also the many, many, many books that come out from the famous preachers and teachers. While I do read some of them, I make a point not to fixate on any one person. In other words, I read from a variety of authors. I’m not one of those people who will buy and read all of any one person’s books. And of course, all of what I read needs to match up with Scripture, or it’s got to go.
Caleb
July 2, 2014I think that now days a lot of it is podcasts and of course books. It’s wise not to only consume the teaching of one man. I also try to read and listen to a variety of men. In fact sometimes I listen to those that I know I probably won’t quite agree with but I do it intentionally so that I don’t get sucked in to what their teaching.
Floyd
July 1, 2014I’m with you. Even King David failed in his flesh with the power at his disposal. It’s not a coincidence that all these preachers, like Swaggart and Baker fail in their flesh. God’s word says it is impossible to do the work of the Father without using only His spirit!
I must be living under a rock, I’ve only heard of MacArthur… shows you how much I follow men…
Caleb
July 2, 2014That’s OK, Floyd, you may be better off not knowing all the big names in Christianity. As long as you know the name of Jesus I think you’re fine!
Ngina Otiende
July 1, 2014This is a great post Caleb. I love the scriptures you’ve given, how the apostles turned the worship back to Jesus when people tried to elevate them. People will always be people. And we should not gobble up what is served, rather promptly correct and direct the worship to Whom it’s due to.
Caleb
July 2, 2014Yes, I thought especially Paul and Barnabas’ response was pretty amazing. Wish some of the celebrity Christians would respond that way!
Micah
July 2, 2014I think this is a very important subject, Caleb. I think one of the other concerns of idolising (as opposed to honouring/respecting) leaders is that it can lead to trying to imitate them in unhealthy ways, and keep us from discovering who we ourselves are called to be in Christ. God made me to be me, and looked and said it was very good. If we begin to use men we have seen as the standard for what we ought to be like (rather than using Christ), it’s possible to mar the way He has desired for His image to be expressed through us. If all were an eye then when where would the sense of hearing be etc.
It is good to respect and emulate leaders as examples, as Paul himself encouraged others to do – ‘follow me as I follow Christ.’ etc. but when we pass from honour into worship, and from regard or respect into idolisation, it limits the glory He designed us to express. Let’s trust that God knew what He was doing when He made each person and be content to be the person we were created to be.
Caleb
July 2, 2014Good point about how Paul said “follow me as I follow Christ”. Paul was obviously careful to qualify that with “as I follow Christ”. Certainly godly men can give us good examples but that example only is only good if it reflects Christ and points us to Christ.
Dave Arnold
July 3, 2014This is a good word, Caleb. We live in a culture – North America that is – that worships celebs. This is dangerous as followers of Jesus. It’s consummeristic to the core. Good word… and I’m excited about you book, too.
Caleb
July 3, 2014Cunsummeristic is a good word for it Dave! I’m excited about the book too, so stay tuned..
Barb Raveling
July 3, 2014Wow, leaving the casket open for 50 years of viewing is going a little overboard. 🙂 These are great points, Caleb. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone bring this subject up before but it’s an important one. I have seen examples in our town where a pastor fell and some left the church never to return because they were so disillusioned. I also think there is a temptation for pastors to get all excited about a celebrity pastor, so much so that much of their teaching from the pulpit is tied up with one particular pastor/writer’s opinions.
I think it’s pretty hard in this day and age to avoid it on a national level, but on a personal level we can avoid it by keeping our time with God and in His Word as our priority. And as writers, pastors, and ministry leaders, we have to fight to keep our own hearts pure for a sincere love of the brethren. Because it’s very easy to get caught up in the “let’s be successful” game! Also to keep renewing our minds so we see ourselves as God sees us and not as people see us.
Caleb
July 3, 2014I can’t imagine what it would have been like to visit that open casket a few years later. Now the casket is closed, thankfully, but people still make pilgrimages to his grave.
Bernard Haynes
July 3, 2014Caleb, this is powerful. It is easy for people to get caught up in the celebrity pastor. They become like the Children of Israel when they wanted a king. They rejected God as their king and wanted a king like the other nations. People do the same in 2014. They see the glitz and glamor from the celebrity pastor. They see the rock star status and are drawn to it. They reject the leading of God and follow after man.
Caleb
July 3, 2014Well put Bernard! There’s always that temptation to follow man instead of God! It’s been around for a very very long time.
Betty Draper
July 4, 2014Caleb, going to copy this for my husband to read. We have tasted that kind of worship in a tiny form and you will understand this. Because we are “missionaries” we have been given more credit then we ever deserved for being what we all are called to do, be a missionaries where we are planted. But because God planted us over seas others seem to think we have this extra measure of faith that is exclusively for over seas missionaries. I pray for these young pastor especially because they step into the limelight and teach or preach and it makes them an easy mark for the devil and pride. The minute we lift some one up to high we will cease to make them accountable. I am uncomfortable around people who name drop anyone pastor, teacher, preacher and authors more than they drop the name of Jesus. This is well written brother, love the scriptures you added to the thoughts.
Thomas
September 10, 2014well we praise God for your post and it has really helped that the glory and honor goes only to Jesus, after all God gave those people the gifts to do what they do. Even giving you the gift to deliver such a post so it shouldn’t be about them but God. Paul said i am just servant of God and this should be our attitude also that they are just servants of God, and we should also pray for our leaders because we also somehow contribute
Caleb
September 10, 2014Thanks Thomas! Certainly we need to do better at pointing people to Christ rather than to some celebrity Christian leader! Thanks for your comment.
Nathan Cedarland
November 4, 2017Great article. Thanks, brother!