I was recently engaged in an online conversation about celebrity and the Body of Christ. I thought about Paul and Barnabus in Lystra and how when they were worshipped by the Lycaonians for the healing of a crippled man, they stopped the people in their tracks. When Paul and Barnabus heard them praising them like gods, they tore their clothes, grieving.It reminded me of the Christian artist and song writer Keith Greene who, when fans applauded him wildly, he crawled under his piano, ashamed.
We can become ashamed of the wrong things in American culture while at the same time applauding men and institutions instead of God. A friend recently sang at a crisis pregnancy center banquet, sharing her story of restoration. She was given a standing ovation and also kudos from a well known Christian communicator. When I told her how proud we were of her and how that she had received such high validation, she said meekly, “Jesus is all the validation I need.”
I don’t know how we got so far away from sharing faith in love, telling our stories one to another, and helping others see Christ for what He is, the Light of the World with us as merely the witnesses of that light.
We can become ashamed of the wrong things in American culture while at the same time applauding men and institutions instead of God. A friend recently sang at a crisis pregnancy center banquet, sharing her story of restoration. She was given a standing ovation and also kudos from a well known Christian communicator. When I told her how proud we were of her and how that she had received such high validation, she said meekly, “Jesus is all the validation I need.”
I don’t know how we got so far away from sharing faith in love, telling our stories one to another, and helping others see Christ for what He is, the Light of the World with us as merely the witnesses of that light.
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