When were you last star-struck? Perhaps you were in a place where a celebrity showed up. Perhaps you stood on a plot of ground where an important historical figure once stood. Perhaps you met one of your heroes.
I’ve had a few star-struck moments. Once, I had the privilege of meeting the greatest St. Louis Cardinal of all time, Stan Musial. Once, I held in my hands a piece of history, a Tyndale New Testament that was printed around 1526; so, yes, I was star-struck by a book. As a child I was star-struck when I met “Leaping:” Lanny Poffo, brother to the “Macho Man” Randy Savage—If that one does not impress you, I truly do not know what will.
People, places, and even objects can leave us wide-eyed and giddy. And, in general, I do not think that’s all bad. But I wonder if we realize that there is a danger when it happens to us in the church. Have you ever thought of the danger of Christian celebrity?
Just as I was star-struck when Stan “the Man” signed a ball for me, or when Brett “the Hit Man” Heart gave me a high 5—OK, now I’m just name-dropping—I have also found myself feeling the wonder of celebrity in Christian conferences or events. I know what it is like to feel a rush when hearing someone speak who I know wrote one of my favorite books or whose sermons I have only heard on podcasts. And I wonder just how good or bad such a thing is.
On the one hand, God is clear in his holy word that we are to rightly, in the church, honor faithful servants of God.
Philippians 2:29–30
So receive him in the Lord with all joy, and honor such men, for he nearly died for the work of Christ, risking his life to complete what was lacking in your service to me.
When Paul wrote to the Philippians about Epaphroditus, the apostle commended the man’s faithfulness and self-sacrifice. Paul wanted the Philippian Christians to honor Epaphroditus and others like him who were willing to give their lives to the service of the Lord. So, there is most certainly a rightness to us honoring faithful ministers, authors, speakers, and missionaries through whose ministries the Lord has blessed our souls and the church at large. There is a rightness to a local church loving a faithful pastor, a long-serving deacon, or a godly woman who has served the church with a true heart and self-sacrificial zeal.
There is, however, a danger we should not ignore in the cult of Christian celebrity. And this danger is not at all new.
2 Corinthians 11:3–5
But I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. For if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit from the one you received, or if you accept a different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up with it readily enough. Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles.
Part of Paul’s struggle in his letters to the Corinthians is the dangerous influence of powerful preachers who apparently swept into Corinth and shook the faith of some in the congregation. These men presented themselves as big deals, super-apostles. They made fun of Paul’s public speaking and rhetorical skill. They mocked Paul for being bold in writing and meek in person. And they introduced false teaching to a people who were willing to eat it up because of the teachers’ charisma.
This passage shows us that celebrity teachers were influencing local churches in the first century, not merely today. While that influence might have been to the good had these men not been greedy and dangerous, the influence of the super-apostles was deadly, because their influence included a false gospel. And platforming these men in Corinth was clearly leading to some people being drawn away from the true faith.
Christian friends, see the balance we need. Honor faithful Bible teachers. Beware of being influenced by celebrity. You can do both. You should do both.
How do you guard against being overly influenced by celebrity? First, I would suggest that you guard yourself best by being most committed to your local church. Love your local congregation. Learn from your pastor, your elders, your Sunday School teachers, even the ones who cannot speak like the conference platform giants. Be careful when the only spiritual conversations you have with others involves the latest podcast you listened to or the most recent blog or YouTube you took in. Be sure that you and your fellow believers can talk about what each other is reading in the Scriptures and where you are encouraged or convicted by the message in the local pulpit.
Second, watch out when you find yourself quoting anybody a lot. I know, this is subjective, but I assume that you can figure it out. If not, ask a friend to help you. Do you sound like a disciple of a mega-church pastor or bigtime author? Are you constantly sending folks links? Be careful of being proud of having a puritan quote for every situation (after all, celebrity in the church need not be current).
Dear friends, hear this: The outside celebrity, the bigtime speaker, the passion-stirring author is not your pastor. These teachers can be a gift from God, and I do not want to have you ignore them. But you must realize that these folks do not know you and cannot care for your soul. You are not their responsibility before God. So, learn from faithful teachers, but do not let yourself be drawn to them like a kid to a pro athlete or rock star. Remember that the public persona you see may have nothing at all to do with the person’s real personality or character. Realize that the giddiness you may feel when you hear the bigtime speaker can also be a pathway to danger as your fandom can leave you vulnerable to accepting false teaching.
Pastor Travis Peterson 