Pastoral Education

The lure of celebrity has infiltrated the modern church. The goal of many congregations is to grow into a mega-church, making the pastor a celebrity within the Christian community at large. Celebrities created by the media, through sports, television, movies, or other pop culture outlets are often promptly paraded before the public to demonstrate how cool it is to be a “Christian”. The result of the dependence on celebrity is at best a shallow conversion, and, tragically often, disappointment, when the celebrity returns to a life of depravity after his short experiment in “Christian living”.

There is nothing inherently wrong with celebrity. Billy Graham achieved celebrity status by maintaining his integrity, and remaining steadfast in his service as an evangelist. The pastor who achieves celebrity status through church growth may in fact build a deep spiritual strength into the members of his church. The singer, actor or sports phenom may have a deep understanding of the truths of scripture, and he may live out the Christian life as it is portrayed in scripture. Celebrity is not the necessary ingredient to effecting the culture for the kingdom of God.

Case in point; how many of you have ever heard of the fourteenth century character Gerhard Groote? The son of wealth in Deventer, in the Netherlands, Gerhard Groote rejected the corruption in the church and spent his youth on the debauchery of the world. It wasn’t until he was restored to health after a serious illness at the age of 34 that he began to spend his life for Christ. In the ten years from his conversion to his death Gerhard Groote built a foundation that shook the world and affected all of Western civilization. Read the rest of this entry »