That may sound strange to some, but I hit upon this issue when I previously wrote a blog about “Why You Like Tebow Too Much.” For some reason, Christians today are swept up in this celebrity culture that has developed here in America. In order to “fit in” we need our celebrity Christians, those individuals that we can point to and show the tell the lost around us, “See, Christians are cool, too. You should want to be one just like so-in-so.” By the way, it is not just sports, too. This celebration of individuals is seen in many of the popular preachers of our day.
In taking on this mindset, we have allowed these “celebrity Christians” to become idols in our life. Remember, and idol is anything that takes the place of the Lord in our life. You may be thinking right now, “I’m just a fan, but these athletes are not idols in my life.” But let me ask you this – which do you talk about more? And when you do talk about God, how many times is it often wrapped around one of these celebrity Christians?
Each of us has a God-sized hole within us that only He can fill, and when we constantly try to fill that hole with the different idols this world has to offer we will always end up feeling empty and unfulfilled. What is needed today are not more Christian celebrities, but more Christians promoting and practicing the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now, before I finish, let me reassure my readers that I am not saying sports are evil. I like sports and am in the process of remodeling my office, and it will still have a “sports theme” to it. You follow me on Twitter and you will see that I tweet about sports just as much sometimes as I do about faith and the Bible. And I am not saying that these athletes are necessarily evil, either. Again, we made the situation, not them. Though I must be honest here and tell you that it is hard to feel too bad for those who carry “million dollar crosses” while others in our world bear their cross all the way to the grave.
What I am cautioning against is making idols out of teams, and even more so, Christian athletes. I am amazed at how many Christians I have read who make statements like, “Its not fair that everyone knows his (Josh Hamilton’s) business. That’s between him and God.” But the truth is, we are to blame for idolizing men and women like him for their faith. Men and women will fall and let us down – God never has and never will.
I see your point, and take it a bit further in that some preachers have become celebrity idols in a few instances. Their congregations attend not to hear the word of God, but to be followers of such men. We can see it in small churches and the mega-churches, too. The only applicable verse I could turn to is:
ReplyDeleteSome indeed preach Christ even of envy and strife; and some also of good will: The one preach Christ of contention, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my bonds: But the other of love, knowing that I am set for the defence of the gospel. What then? notwithstanding, every way, whether in pretence, or in truth, Christ is preached; and I therein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice.
(Philippians 1:15-18 KJV)
You are correct, I only devoted one line to that because so many other blogs have pointed to it - but we often fall into the the trap of man-centered, man-worship religion. I Thessalonians 2:1-12 is a good portion of Scripture that teaches how minister show conduct themselves, which is the complete oppoiste of what we see sometimes.
Delete