“People! Why are you doing these things? We are people also, just like you.” (Acts 14:15)
I was always aware that our culture admired celebrities. That’s not surprising. What has been surprising is that the culture of celebrity is not just a phenomenon outside the church but inside the church.
Social media outlets such as YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and the like have provided platforms for the Gospel. Still, our desire to make much of human beings has caused many in the church, including myself, to make gods out of mere human beings. Pastors that gain popularity online become influential, they gain a hearing, and before you know it, they receive adoration that should only be reserved for God. So how should we approach this growing trend?
An excellent place to start is to approach it the way the Apostles Barnabas and Paul did. In Acts 14:1-20, we have an account of their ministry in the towns of Lystra and Derbe. In Acts 14:8, they meet a man who was lame and could not walk. In an unreal moment, the man would be healed after Paul, recognizing that the man had faith to be healed, told the man, “Stand up on your feet” (Acts 14:9-10). As you can imagine, seeing a man who couldn’t walk suddenly jump around caused quite a stir. The crowd thought that they were gods in human form.
Paul and Barnabas ask the people why they would make sacrifices and bring worship to them. It says in verse 14 that they tore their robes. Then they say this: “People! Why are you doing these things? We are people also, just like you, and we are proclaiming good news to you, that you turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything in them.” They tell the people that they aren’t unique. They aren’t more holy, and they aren’t any better. They aren’t any more worthy of worship. Then they use this opportunity to turn the people’s attention to God. Paul and Barnabas were heralds of the good news that God has taken them from worthless things and brought them to himself. Paul and Barnabas knew that in the kingdom, there were no celebrities. The Gospel says that God comes and saves the worst people, the broken people, the sick and downcast people. It is antithetical to the Gospel to think that anyone, no matter how eloquent, talented, or successful, is worthy of any worship or praise.