[From 11/15/10]
"Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, 'You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your comrades who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God!'"
(Revelation 19:10)
Athletes.
Musicians.
Movie Stars.
Television Celebrities.
Those are the big 4 professions that seem to bring the most adulation & adoration by others. All over the world, these groups of people are worshipped. Literally. (We seem to love our entertainment, don't we?) There are other professions we 'greatly admire' and bestow honor upon... but they usually don't bring the same adoration.
Far from being a rant on those 4 groups of people, I'm writing this morning about something a little closer to home - my own profession (ministers!). There are a few religious leaders who seem to have garnered "rock star status." From within the church, some have grown to superstar fame. I still remember a few years back hearing Pastor Francis Chan admit, "If Jesus had a church (in the same town I have a church), more people would probably come to my church. AND THAT'S NOT A GOOD THING!" Francis recently left his church as the senior pastor. There was no sex scandal. No financial impropriety. No misuse of power. He just felt it was time to step down as senior pastor... not knowing exactly where God was leading him in the future.
We pastors are in an interesting situation. We get to know people - often quite deeply. We intercede and stand before God for a community. We're up front each week during worship. There's a human tendency to both be exulted and crave that adulation. But today's passage from Revelation 19 is clear. Only God should be "worshipped." Period. No matter how flattering it is for us, as pastors we must always be redirecting people to God. That's the proper perspective.
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