I find it disturbing that in Christian circles we still suffer from the same ‘hero worship’ patterns that the World do. There’s this thing in human nature where we like to set ordinary humans up on a pedestal, to make them into celebrities, get involved in ‘personality cults’ and what have you. We have people we like to go and listen to, people with ‘Big Name Ministries’.
Sure, it’s fine to be fans of actors, sports stars and so on.
But when it comes to ministry, there should be only one Big Name in the Church, and that is Jesus. Everyone else is but a servant. And I’m sure the people with those ministries would be the first to agree; the problem lies with us, not with them!
Take for example the Church in Corinth in the first century. They had a personality cult thing going between Paul and another chap called Apollos. Paul had this to say about that state of affairs:
“Are you not acting like mere humans? For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings? What, 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. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow” (1 Cor 3:3-6)
The thing is, every believer has the Spirit of Christ. The same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead, is living in each believer (Romans 8:11). That’s a pretty powerful statement! Indeed, “…if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, they do not belong to Christ” (Rom 8:9). So, because Jesus lives in the believer by His Spirit, every believer is capable of the same things Jesus did. It’s time we grasped this powerful truth: you have just as much power as the people with big-name ministries. I do understand that sometimes people seem to have a greater anointing for healing or preaching than others, and that people will flock to where Jesus is doing signs and wonders today. But you see that’s just the point; it is Jesus who is doing it, not the people He’s using.
Don Francisco puts it really well in his song ‘One Heart at a Time’, which I present below with his permission:
There are world-famous worship leaders and speakers who are revered by many Christians. Their names have been flogged by Christian publications – probably in an effort to make money, and also possibly without their express wish to be so ‘promoted’.
And yet, in a tiny housegroup of five people, I have felt the Presence of God at its strongest when led simply by a humble guitarist. I have seen people weeping with healing in God’s presence after hearing someone speak in a youth group of ten people. The time I felt God’s Presence most strongly was when it was just me and one brother praying together. I have friends who regularly see miracles on the streets in their street-evangelism ministry, and I bet you’ve never even heard of them. It doesn’t need to all be ‘big-time’ stuff, you know; all you need is a servant heart and God can – and will – work through you too!
And let’s leave all this personality cult stuff behind us. I wouldn’t care if Billy Graham, Smith Wigglesworth and Evan Roberts were all appearing together in one giant tent crusade; if Jesus was there, surely that’s all we’d need!
