Now, I am aware that hero-worship is the sin of the worshipper, not necessarily the hero. The factions in 1 Corinthians who claimed to follow Paul or, even more so, Jesus as their celebrity guru were clearly not encouraged to do so by their chosen leader. Likewise an alcoholic barman who gets drunk on the job is himself responsible for his drunkenness; but if the bar owner hired him knowing of his drink problem, the bar owner too shares in the guilt. Thus it is in the highly celebrified culture of the USA: church leaders who know that their people have a tendency to the sin of idolizing their heroes need to take account of that fact in how they decide to behave. So here are my suggestions...Read the rest.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Carl Trueman on American Pastor Celebrity Culture
Interesting thoughts here as usual from Dr. Carl:
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
5 comments:
I look forward to seeing if WTS will do this with their website: no faculty listed (just courses offered)!
Exactly. Imagine going to a concert and only knowing the songs being played but having no idea who is going to play those songs. Just trust the promoter? Probably not. Seems like a weakness in the argument.
Still, I think there is wisdom to be headed here that isn't necessary in a school or especially a concert setting. These are completely different things. Of course, when you go to a concert, you want to see a particular band. That's the whole point of going. When you go to a conference, isn't the goal to sit under good teaching. You don't JUST go because so-and-so is speaking. If you do, I think there's danger in that for the very reasons Trueman points out. You could very well (though not necessarily) be more fixated on that man than the Word. I can think of some great examples of churches where a pastor doesn't preach on a particular weekend, and hoards of people decide they will not attend. That is a HUGE problem. The same can be said for Biblical conferences (and maybe for seminary classes as well). But I don't see the connection to concerts at all.
JT--brilliant.
Guys, I have to admit I was a bit perplexed with the celebrity-itis I observed--at the conference (hmm...I wonder which one Carl is referring to...) and in my own heart. So as I read Carl's post, I was largely agreeing. And the whole VIP thing is nauseating.
Yet might it just be possible that one reason pastors of huge churches have huge congregations is because they are superior preachers? In which case such conferences will be maximally edifying if they are the ones brought in?
Nonetheless I take the substance of what Carl is saying to heart.
Dane,
GREAT comment. Thanks for the insight. (You are a celebrity in my mind now and I'll give you the VIP chair when you come to my house for dinner.)
z
Post a Comment