Celebrity Christians and how they influence us
Jamal at “illuminate” has written a very good post called “Cliques, Celebrity Leaders, and The Disease of Hierarchy.”
In his post, Jamal warns against “following” certain people because of their celebrity status, even Christian celebrity status. These people could be popular church leaders, authors, conference speakers, or even bloggers.
He offers three warnings at the end of his post:
1. Beware of ‘selective associating’ and ‘selective name dropping’
2. Beware of giving false honor and respect to those on the leadership ‘stage’
3. Beware of comparing yourself to others, & stop comparing your brothers and sisters in Christ to one another
I want to continue Jamal’s discussion by adding one more “warning” to his list: 4. Beware of “following” people that you do not actually know.
What am I talking about? For 99.9% of us, we do not actually know the big name authors, church leaders, conference speakers, or bloggers. We know what they’ve written or what they’ve said, but we do not know them. We do not know how they actually live; we only know what they SAY about what they live.
By the way, I’m not saying that these people DON’T live in a way that honors God. I’m simply saying that we do not KNOW how they live.
Also, for those who find themselves in the Christian spotlight, I offer this additional warning: 5) Beware of presenting yourself as an example to people with whom you do not actually share your life.
God has placed people in our lives already who can offer good, real, living examples of what it means to follow Jesus Christ. These are the people who should influence us the most as we follow Jesus Christ ourselves.
I like that warning
Beware of following people you don’t actually know
Many people including myself have been caught up in that and it may not always be a healthy way to go
Good post
Brilliantly said brother! Thank you.
Wisdom
Alan,
Sound words!
“Beware of following people you don’t actually know”,prolific bloggers included!
I’ve become aware of several folk who are so attached to particular bloggers that they live and breath what they say.
That too is a good point john as I know many people who almost verbatim spit out what certain authors and bloggers say about things
I love to promote good stuff and “good” people when I see them but we should definitely be aware especially when talking or promoting people we don’t know and don’t have fellowship with
This can go all ways though because I mean even people we know we probably don’t REALLY know or at least we don’t know the thoughts and intents of their hearts 100%
We just need to as a people of God and Body of Christ tread lightly uphold Gods standards and hold to what is good pure and just because we all fall short
If I am not to follow prolific bloggers, am I to heed this instruction? And, even if you say I shouldn’t maybe I still should? Ahhh. It’s an infinite loop!
Mike,
I have been caught up in that as well.
Jamal,
Thanks for the great post!
Jim,
I thought Jamal had some wise things to say as well.
Aussie John,
Yes, I even include myself in that list…
Brandon,
So, should you follow what I say in this post or what Jamal says in his post? Maybe… Maybe not… 🙂
Actually, I suggested an approach to books, articles, blog posts, etc. in a post called “Teaching through shared life experiences? But what about books, articles, and blog posts?” You should definitely follow that! ()
-Alan