Ep. 304 - The Hidden Dangers of Celebrity Christianity: Are We Idolizing Our Pastors?

The Living Waters Podcast

Living Waters

Prolife, Religion, Creation, Evangelism, Salvation, Jesus, Christianity, Faith, Religion & Spirituality, Spirituality, Gospel, Apologetics, Theology, Witnessing

5 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 7 November 2024

⏱️ 53 minutes

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Summary

Many church services are centered on entertainment, which opens the door for celebrity pastors. Ray, E.Z., Mark, and Oscar talk about how the focus of many churches has shifted from preaching the gospel to getting more people in the doors. This man-centered approach leads churches to prioritize charisma over genuine spiritual leadership. The goal should be to live, preach, and be forgotten, magnifying the Lord rather than the individual. True pastoral leadership is about shepherding souls, no...

Transcript

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0:00.0	Here's the thing about celebrity pasturism is that it's actually, it's everywhere. It's not fair for us to
0:05.5	just call out the Carl Lances and the Mark Driscolls because the reality is that we make celebrities,
0:11.4	like there are people who are like, I am of John MacArthur, I am of Ken Ham, I am of Mark DeBerner.
0:15.8	I'm not of Kenham. I am of Mark Driscoll. Let's make that clear. And what ends up happening is that these people with massive influence, they're like,
0:25.0	they have this gravitational pull.
0:28.0	And what happens with other pastors is when they want their influence to grow, they
0:32.2	start man hyping.
0:33.8	Like you want to grow as a pastor, your social media influence.
0:37.2	Just talk highly of John MacArthur.
0:39.0	His following will then become your following.
0:41.5	So the reality is that we all end up doing this.
0:44.6	And here's the thing.
0:45.4	One of my favorite things,
0:46.4	how to combat this and what is a true pastor?
0:48.1	That was your question.
0:49.1	So good.
0:50.1	How to combat this is to build a meaningful relationship
0:55.0	with your local pastor.
0:59.0	I love when I talk to a young man,
1:01.0	and one of the very common questions that I ask him
1:04.0	is what are some of the most influential pastors in your life?
1:08.0	And before they name celebrity pastor A, B, or C, when they say, man, that my local pastor,
	...

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