Christ and Culture - Christian Hero Worship
4For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men? 5What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. 7So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.
I Corinthians 3:4-7
Who are your favorite authors? Mine right now are John Stott, H. Richard Neibuhr, Steve Farrar, and JK Rowling. Two of those you might be familiar with, two of those you probably aren't.
It seems that every time you walk into a Christian bookstore or the Christian section of one of the big chain stores, you find the same few authors. Joel Osteen, Joyce Meyer, Beth Moore, Max Lucado, John Piper, and a few others. Are they the only people who have insight that should be shared? Or are they the people who happened to get very popular, and so book sellers are only interested in putting their books on the shelves since they most likely have a sure-fire winner?
How many current books and music are only presented to us because the authors are popular? The business reason behind it is that their books and music sell, so the business makes money. But what about the Christian store that profits from the heretical? What have they really profited? Matthew 16:26 says "What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?" Are we as a Christian body gaining the world through a better life or more prosperity, but at the same time losing our souls due to our shortsighted view of eternity?
Don't take this as though I'm flaming the people who are popular. Some have great insights into Scripture and really seem to be communicating a message that God is the center of. However, others are laying out plans for a selfish, me-centered Gospel, which is not what Jesus laid out for us. We don't want our best life now (yes, that's a shot at one of the authors), we pine for our best life in eternity, when we are no longer separated from God. Why should we embrace the fleeting moment of our fallen human life at the expense of the eternal life with God?
Who should we put our faith in? The person who plants and waters the seed, or the God who gives it the ability to grow? If Paul, being an apostle of Jesus Christ himself didn't consider himself to be anything, then why should we. Why should we put our faith in people, when we can put our faith in Him who created all of us?
Seems a pretty easy answer to me.