“The English word celebrity derives
from the Latin word celebrer, “to frequent” and more remotely from the Latin
celer, “to hasten.” The desire for celebrity is, at its heart, the desire of a
person to be “frequented”—to turn heads and command the notice of others. To
become a celebrity is simply to succeed in being noticed regularly.” (http://dbts.edu/blog/author/msnoeberger/).
We are living in a time of
celebrities, superstars and heroes. And it seems the world is divided into two
categorizes the celebrities/superstars and those who want/claim to be
associated with them. Stardom comes in different ways there are those who are
specially gifted (athletes, speakers, musicians, actors etc.) and there are
those who have achieved something great (i.e. Mandela, Thomas Edison) but there
are yet those who either have LOTS of money (i.e. Carlos Slim, Bill Gates) or
hold a public role or office (i.e. Queen Elizabeth, Barak Obama). Those of us
who fail to make it in the above categorizes will often try our best to tick in
at least one box and when all else fails then we try as much as possible to get
associated with the people who are stars. Everyone wants to be noticed and
everyone wants to be heard. No wonder we are obsessed with how many people are
following us on social media or how many likes and comments we get on our
Facebook statues or how many compliments we get about our achievements. The
cult hero syndrome is here to stay!
Sadly this is true even in churches
and among Christians and pastors! Ministers of the gospel are becoming stars
and celebrities at an alarming rate. With the rise of social media we are daily
trumpeting our achievements and marketing ourselves (like products). What is
even more worrying is how that it is often about our success; how many
people came, what we did, the buildings, how well we are doing,
how many people follow us etc. Meanwhile the rest of us are busy trying
to get as close as we can to them (superstars or wanna be celebrities)
and are eager to show or prove our closeness to them and how that they
recognise us and they know us and we actually have personal
relationships with them. In extreme situations they have become
the rule of faith and practice. How often do we refer to some celebrity rather
than the bible when discussing how God wants us to live, serve and function as
a church? (Am sure you have got my point!)
I think it is important for me to
say that I am not saying social media is sin or evil. It is in fact a powerful to
share the gospel and further the kingdom of God. I thank God for social media.
More often than not I find myself checking my motivates and asking why am doing
what am doing and checking if I am not simply looking for the praise of men and
seeking to puff myself or up lift my image. Paul and John the Baptist were men
who had every reason to boast and glory in their influence and success. If they
lived in our days they would be great celebrities, they would have millions of
followers yet their attitude was anything but that of stars and we can learn
from them.
Paul tells the Corinthians; for what
we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, with ourselves as your
servants for Jesus' sake… But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show
that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. And who can forget the
humbling words of John the Baptist when answered; the one who has the bride is
the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him,
rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now
complete. He must increase, but I must decrease."
