Putting People on Pedestals That Don’t Belong There

People on pedestals have a
disturbing habit of falling.

Hero worship. It’s a national pastime. Fan magazines are filled with supposed “heroes.” We even like them super-sized – these days you can’t go to a movie theater that doesn’t offer some new “superhero” film. We idolize people – real or fictional – placing them on pedestals so they can more easily bask in our adoration. The problem is, they don’t belong there. 

That’s because all of us – even the rich, famous and powerful – are broken, flawed and fallible, anything but perfect. And we have the disconcerting tendency of proving it. When heroes fall, they leave scores of disillusioned admirers in their wake.

 

It’s not hard to find stories on TV, magazines or the Internet about how an A-list celebrity has gotten caught up in some kind of scandal. You can probably think of several examples right now. The media seem to revel in reports of Christian leaders who fall, as if to say, “See, he/she isn’t the godly person they claim to be!” Even if the disgraced persons never actually made that claim.

 

It does hurt to hear about these failures. These folks – whether pastors, entertainers, authors or conference speakers – are supposed to be setting the example for the rest of us, right?

 

We also provide pedestals for people whose names aren’t in the “Who’s Who” of society. It might be a parent, sibling, uncle or aunt, a mentor, Sunday school teacher, co-worker or boss. We give them places of honor in our minds, holding them to the loftiest standards. If and when they fall, their crash seems of seismic proportions.

 

A number of folks have toppled from my own imagined pedestals. That was largely my fault, however, since they never asked to be put up there. Hearkening back to my student journalism days at Ohio State, I covered the football team and had the opportunity to interact face-to-face with the legendary Woody Hayes. Sadly, for many people his name evokes the image of an aging coach, in frustration, throwing a punch at a Clemson football player who sealed the Buckeyes’ defeat in a bowl game. Understandably, that was his last day as a football coach. Talk about dropping from a pedestal!

 

Years ago, soon after accepting a job to work in vocational ministry as a magazine editor, I talked with a pastor friend about his experiences in parachurch ministry. Harry offered some valuable advice. He said not to expect to find any perfect people, walking around in flowing robes and hands always folded in piety. “They’ll be normal human beings, filled with flaws just as we are.” How true those words proved to be. 

 

In the Bible, God minces no words about this reality. Romans 3:23, for example, tells us, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Earlier in the chapter the writer, the apostle Paul, declares, “There is no one righteous, not even one…” (Romans 3:10). 

 

Years after his dramatic conversion from persecutor of Christians to fervent ambassador for Jesus Christ, Paul still confessed, “I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do…. So I find this law at work: When I want to do good, evil is right there with me” (7:15-21). Wow! If this was the case for one of Jesus’ foremost apostles, what hope do we have?

 

But that’s the point – apart from the power of Jesus Christ through His indwelling Spirit, we’ll never measure up. As devotional writer Oswald Chambers said, “All of God’s people are ordinary people who have been made extraordinary for the purpose He has given them.”

 

If we’re honest, we won’t want anyone placing us on a pedestal. Even though we may put up a good front, we all struggle inwardly, alternately succeeding and failing to live as we know God wants us to live. The adage, “Do as I say, not as I do,” is a terrible philosophy. It’s better not to point to ourselves at all, but always to Jesus.

 

The apostle might have been addressing this pedestal problem when he rebuked believers in the ancient city of Corinth: “…One of you says, ‘I follow Paul’; another, ‘I follow Apollos’; another, ‘I follow Cephas’; still another, ‘I follow Christ.’ Is Christ divided?” (1 Corinthians 1:11-13).

 

Even today, we find it tempting to become disciples of one compelling preacher or another, accepting their particular theological slant as holy writ. There again, that’s placing them on pedestals extremely unstable at best.

 

Instead, we’d be wise to do as Paul humbly declared, “For I resolved to nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified…. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power” (1 Corinthians 2:2-5). We need only one pedestal, one that’s reserved for the Lord alone. 

Keeping the ‘Main Thing’ the Main Thing

Starting this weekend, millions across America
will resume a focus on their "main thing."

Well, it’s that time of year again. Football time! (I understanding that not everyone is cheering – some groan at the prospect. Sorry ‘bout that.) But if you’re a college football fan, someone who prefers the NFL, or a person who enjoys both in equal doses, it’s nearly time to get on that game face. In some cases, literally. Annual fantasy football “drafts” are under way, and the seasonal religion of football is poised to open its hallowed cathedrals to devoted congregants.

For some fans it will be a fun diversion, watching a game or two for several hours on a Saturday or Sunday, and then returning to the realities of daily life. For others (and I used to be among them), it becomes what’s most important and will remain such through the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays, and maybe beyond New Year’s. Even during the week, they’ll be agonizing over how their teams will do the next weekend, real and fantasy.

Which raises a question that transcends the gridiron: What is most important? Or to put it another way, in your life, what is the main thing?

Recently I heard a speaker discussing this very topic. Noting how the question of “what’s most important” can elicit a wide range of responses, he wondered, “Can there be multiple ‘most importants’?”

It would seem so, based on how some people act, but by the law of superlatives – I really don’t know if there is such a law, but if there isn’t, there should be – there can only be one entity that qualifies as “most.” All the rest fall in rankings of lesser importance.

Many people have expressed it (or something similar) through the years, but the late Ted DeMoss was the first I ever heard say, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” The problem, he would explain, is we don’t always keep “the main thing” paramount. Even worse, we fail to identify what the main thing is, resulting in a very disjointed, conflicted life.

For some people, starting later this week, football becomes their main thing. For others, it’s work or career. The main thing can range from family to a favorite pastime to having the perfect house. It can even be training for a marathon or a triathlon, or working out to sculpt that perfect physique. The definition of “the main thing” can differ from person to person, but for those of us who follow Jesus Christ – or recognize the need for a deeper, more fruitful spiritual life – can there really be more than one main thing? Not really.

Writing to the church in Corinth, the apostle Paul stated, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). He was determined not to get sidetracked by tangential matters. He resolved to keep the main thing – Jesus – the main thing, no matter what.

I like how the Amplified translation of Philippians 3:10 describes the apostle’s devotion: “(For my determined purpose is) that I may know him – that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding (the wonders of His Person) more strongly and more clearly….”

Without question Paul had a singular, unwavering goal: to keep Jesus Christ the main thing in his life, and to challenge others to do the same.

“Yeah,” some might argue, “but that was then. This is now.” Perhaps, but from the beginning God has sought to find single-minded people who understood He is, and always should be, the main thing. “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (2 Chronicles 16:9).

Because being a follower of Jesus – a Christian, if you prefer – isn’t a part-time pursuit, a spiritual activity for which we parcel out an hour or two every week, then proceed through the rest of the week as if there is no God.

As the speaker asked, can there be multiple “most importants”? Can there be more than one real “main thing”? Looking at your life, and how you pursue it from day to day, what’s your main thing?

Words of Dis-tinction?

Learned a new word the other day: “intinction.” I came across it while doing research on the website of a denomination I’m familiar with. At first I didn’t bother to check its meaning, but finally curiosity got to me.

Actually, it’s a theological term. If you’re unfamiliar with the word, it’s not surprising. Two pastor friends of mine had never heard of it before either, and both are seminary graduates.

Intinction, I learned, means dipping the bread (cracker or wafer, as the case may be) into the wine (or grape juice, depending on your congregation’s preference) during the observance of communion. The reason the word even appeared on the website is because the denomination was debating whether to declare intinction “an inappropriate method,” meaning the bread/cracker and wine/grape juice should instead be consumed in separate actions.

The apostle Paul said his
focus was Christ and the Cross.

My honest reaction, after suppressing a chuckle, was to ask, “Really? Seriously?” Of all the issues facing the modern church today, leaders are worrying about whether it’s “appropriate” to dip bread into wine while taking communion or if they must insist that congregants eat the bread and drink the wine separately? Apparently it’s a matter inquiring church minds must resolve.

Think of what the 21st century church is confronting today – declining attendance; young people leaving and not returning once they finish high school; divorce rates within the church nearly equaling that of nonbelievers; men regularly attending church addicted to pornography; responding to people living “alternative lifestyles”; or individuals simply wondering how to relate what they hear on Sunday mornings to real-life issues on Monday mornings or Thursday afternoons.

While all this is going on, church leaders are devoting time and energy to whether it’s right to dip the bread into the wine/juice during holy communion?

This seems symptomatic of what ails today’s church, dangerously close to becoming irrelevant in society. Focus is given to issues like “intinction” rather than ascertaining how to effectively convey to men, women and young people in the pews what it really means to live for Christ on a 24/7 basis, to truly experience “victory in Jesus” and not just sing about it. And how to serve as His witnesses in our Judeas, Samarias, and the uttermost parts of the world.

That’s why I appreciate the determination of the apostle Paul, who said, “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified” (1 Corinthians 2:2). Well-intended church leaders would be wise to do the same. Otherwise, as they debate intinction, their churches march toward extinction.