Have you heard the saying, “Don’t meet your heroes”? Google many sports figures and celebrities and you will probably find a story about a regular person meeting someone famous and coming away not impressed. So many people seem amazing from afar but the more you know about them, the more you realize they have feet of clay. It’s hard to know what people are actually like.
We also see this in politics. We choose a candidate who looks like a savior, someone to make a difference the way we want, and suddenly they fall short. They turn sides and take bribes and disappoint us.
You might think that this wouldn’t apply to Christians. However, with people following authors, pastors, and Christian influencers, we can easily get caught up in the wrong thing and focused on the wrong person.
We don’t like to think that by following everything a certain person says or by believing he/she can do no wrong equals hero worship, but that is essentially what it is. We are propping people up on a pedestal and basing what we believe on what they say. We feel the need to defend them to others because some of our identity is wrapped up in how people perceive them. If someone has a problem with my person of interest, they must have a problem with me too!
I’m not saying it’s wrong to have a favorite author or to learn from a popular Bible teacher. I hope you respect your pastor and church leaders. I have podcasts, books, and people that have definitely helped me in my Christian walk and taught me things that are valuable and biblical. But I always have to remember a few things, no matter how I’m gleaning wisdom from others.
Everyone is a sinner and therefore capable of getting something wrong.
Only God is omniscient (all knowing).
I am capable of responding in a sinful way.
I only know one side {usually my person’s side} of the story but there are two perspectives in every incident.
By reminding myself of these truths, it helps me keep men (or women) in the correct place and God in his much deserved place.
I don’t log in to Twitter often because it’s too overwhelming for me. But I have the people I follow grouped into lists so I can choose to only read updates from authors or Christian leaders or Princess of Wales fashion posts. Unfortunately, the times I’ve logged in to Christian Tweeters I follow, there’s usually some disagreement or conflict going on. A popular Christian has been involved in a scandal or said something contradictory in a new book. Or someone just decides to go after someone else. It’s a messy place.
But the problem doesn’t stop there. Sometimes the person in question jumps on social media to defend his/her position. Sometimes it’s gracious, oftentimes not. Then their followers will lash out with name calling, Bible misquoting tweets to defend the honor of their favored influencer. And the mess just gets messier.
This exulting in people rather than God is contrary to the examples in the Bible. Think of Joseph in Genesis 40-41. Before he tells the two prisoners and Pharaoh what their dreams mean, he makes sure to mention it is God, not him, who can interpret dreams and should get the credit. Think of David in I Samuel 17 as he boldly goes against Goliath. He declares several times that God will deliver him from this Philistine. In another event concerning dreams, Daniel gives God the credit for showing Nebuchadnezzar’s dream meaning to him in Daniel 2. In fact Daniel points out that no one except God can do this (Dan. 2:27-28).
We also see New Testament examples of doing things for God’s glory, not man’s attention. In this, we see that God should be preeminent in everything. In everything we do and, therefore, in how we treat and emulate others. If we are respecting the words and teachings of a person — no matter how well educated or intentioned —- over the words and teachings of the Bible, we need to recognize the hero worship in this and follow God above all else.
I’ve recently seen someone post, “If this {supposedly bad thing} happens to so-and-so {read Christian teacher who is important to her}, my faith in God’s justice will be broken.” Really?! Your faith in the Creator of the Universe rests on how your favorite Bible speaker is treated, talked about, etc.? What a sad place to be in! To have your very faith in the power of Who God is hinging on a mere mortal who I guarantee is sinful and will make mistakes. We must be careful, even as we learn and grow from the teachings and writings of others that their words, actions, and personalities are NEVER a substitute for the actual Bible.
If I get too caught up in the unfairness, the injustice, the criticism, it might hurt my testimony with others. Christians shouldn’t be backbiters. Even if we don’t like an outcome or what we see as unjust commentary, we need to watch our mouths and monitor our hearts.
Consider this small sample of verses from Proverbs:
The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses. {Prov. 10:11-12}
A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly. The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good. A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit. {Prov. 15:1-4}
And so my challenge to you is this: consider those in your life who have impact and influence. Do you accept everything they say without reading or studying for yourself? Do you only believe their version of events and criticize any who speak against them? Do you assume if so-and-so said it, it must be true? Do you find yourself getting into arguments defending the honor or insight of a certain person?
None of us are able to walk through this life without making mistakes. We will say the wrong thing, be swayed by popular teaching, respond sinfully to situations. But if we spend more time reading and studying God’s Word than we spend hearing from the popular voices of today — however wise they may sound — we will have a better foundation to respond biblically and know God’s teaching on certain matters. In a society of ever-changing opinions and “truths,” I’m thankful for the unchanging God we can trust Who has given us unchanging truth to live by.
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