Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Celebrity Pastors - Danger



Pastors, evangelists, Bible teachers and various religious leaders are just human like anyone of us. Somehow it seem that it is human nature to go after fame and fortune. This is most obvious in the entertainment industry, but it seem in Christian ministries this "fame and fortunate" factors are also there. You will be able to see many famous pastors and evangelists in the US, some have fallen on the way to stardom.

Seeking fame in ministry is dangerous. If one is not careful one will fall. It is dangerous because as a pastor become famous it is a tendency to preach and promote himself rather than God. Pastors should be pointing people to God and not himself.

Previously I had also written about Pastor Francis Chan formerly of Cornerstone Community Church, Simi Valley. He is a good example of how he felt that his celebrity status might get in the way of his work in leading people to Christ. He decided to leave his mega church. He said he was disturbed by people driving more than 50 miles each Sunday to his church to hear him preach! And that did not seem right to him. The message of Jesus is the most important, it is not the pastors.

Personally I am reminded of my reactions when a celebrity pastor Bro Yun of China who is known as "The Heavenly Man" came to my home town to speak several years ago and I was so excited I told my mentor that I will be going to listen to him. He reminded me and asked whether I was going to listen to God's words through him or I was excited because of his celebrity status. That really woke me up.

We the Christian audience has a role to play, if we do not seek after these pastors like celebrities of this world, these pastors may not behave like celebrities. We are to seek after the Words of God and not after man.

To read further click on the title of this post.

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