{"id":2796,"date":"2011-06-09T15:51:59","date_gmt":"2011-06-09T15:51:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/owenstrachan.com\/?p=2796"},"modified":"2011-06-09T15:51:59","modified_gmt":"2011-06-09T15:51:59","slug":"kevin-deyoung-speaks-wisely-about-celebrity-pastors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtlife\/2011\/06\/kevin-deyoung-speaks-wisely-about-celebrity-pastors\/","title":{"rendered":"Kevin DeYoung Speaks Wisely About Celebrity Pastors"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>Kevin DeYoung has just posted a manifestly helpful piece on the hot-potato topic of \u201ccelebrity pastors.\u201d<\/a>\u00a0 I commend it to you; it\u2019s full of wisdom and good theological thinking.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a snatch:<\/p>\n

Give glory to God for his gifts wherever you find them.<\/strong>This entails three things:<\/p>\n

1) We must always remember\u2014and not just give lip service to the fact\u2014that God is the one who apportions gifts to teachers, pastors, and authors. The churches get edified. God gets the glory.<\/p>\n

2) Some Christians are more gifted than others. That\u2019s not just reality; that\u2019s the way God designed things. It will be better to learn about John Calvin from some teachers than from others (one of the reasons speakers are advertised at conferences). Often those with the more pronounced gifts are those with more pronounced influence. And those with more influence are usually better known than those with little influence. So as long as God apportions gifts as he sees fit, we will not escape the fact that some men have more notoriety and are used more powerfully than others. If you had to teach a class on the Reformation you\u2019d certainly spend the bulk of your time on the likes of Luther, Calvin, Know, and Zwingli. The human mind can only comprehend so much, so we tend to focus on the men who (to our imperfect eyes) seemed to be used uniquely by God in his plan.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Read the whole thing.<\/a>\u00a0 There are seven theses.<\/p>\n

We must hear the cautions about evangelical \u201ccelebrities.\u201d\u00a0 Certainly we all are sinners, and a part of that sin can be seeking fame and power.\u00a0 If many of us are honest, there is surely a part of our hearts that craves renown.\u00a0 As with any other sin that tempts us, we need to remain vigilant about this tendency.\u00a0 We should invite accountability from local church members on this point, encourage feedback from our spouses in this area, and pray against our natural propensity for self-glorification.\u00a0 It would be ironic for Christians enthralled by a supreme Lord\u2013and championing that God in front of hundreds or thousands of people\u2013to focus attention on puny, insignificant vessels like us.<\/p>\n

We must also remember, though, that as Kevin says, God raises up leaders.\u00a0 Those leaders will naturally draw followers; it\u2019s supposed<\/em> to work that way.\u00a0 Christians are call to \u201coutdo one another in showing honor\u201d according to the apostle Paul, a man of great prominence in the apostolic age (Romans 12:10).\u00a0 We certainly can pay slavish homage to evangelical leaders; that\u2019s not good.\u00a0 But we shouldn\u2019t forget that it is deeply biblical to go to great lengths to encourage and honor fellow believers.\u00a0 This will surely include our pastors, movement teachers and leaders, and writers.<\/p>\n

We should remember that when we\u2019re feeling grateful for John Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, or John Piper, we\u2019re not really, at the end of the day, grateful for them.\u00a0 We\u2019re thankful to the God who drove their every effort.\u00a0 That\u2019s what we\u2019re truly excited about\u2013a great God who uses fallen people to advance the gospel of his kingdom.\u00a0 We can very much voice appreciation for our leaders, but we do so knowing and even expressing that it is God who raises men up and takes them down.\u00a0 This is just what Daniel 2:21 says:<\/p>\n

\u201cHe changes times and seasons;
\nhe removes kings and sets up kings\u201d<\/p>\n

In other words, God controls who leads and who does not.<\/p>\n

It is no bad thing, furthermore, to Christians to get together for mutual exhortation and great teaching.\u00a0 The local church, the keeper of the ordinances, has the primacy.\u00a0 It is the only institution Christ founded.\u00a0 But this does not mean that Christians cannot get together to hear from particularly skilled preachers and teachers.\u00a0 We can.\u00a0 We should.\u00a0 It\u2019s a great thing for evangelicals to share fellowship with believers from other confessional traditions.\u00a0 All this will necessarily mean that some leaders receive a good deal of attention.\u00a0 But that does not need to be a bad thing; indeed, it was true of many biblical figures, it has been true of Christians throughout history, and it will continue to take place.<\/p>\n

God uses leaders.\u00a0 God raises them up.\u00a0 God calls them to speak for him.\u00a0 People will naturally thrill to potent proclamation.\u00a0 Praise God for that.\u00a0 We must watch our hearts.\u00a0 But we should not shy away from leadership.<\/p>\n

We should, however, shy away from green shirts like Kevin is wearing in his photo.<\/p>\n

(Image: University Reformed Church)<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Kevin DeYoung has just posted a manifestly helpful piece on the hot-potato topic of \u201ccelebrity pastors.\u201d\u00a0 I commend it to you; it\u2019s full of wisdom and good theological thinking. Here\u2019s a snatch: Give glory to God for his gifts wherever you find them.This entails three things: 1) We must always remember\u2014and not just give lip […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1217,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[222,253],"tags":[514,1212,13176,1708,13180,13182,1801,13199,13232,2460,2975],"class_list":["post-2796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ministry","category-pastors","tag-apostle-paul","tag-evangelical-celebrities","tag-jesus-christ","tag-john-calvin","tag-john-piper","tag-jonathan-edwards","tag-kevin-deyoung","tag-martin-luther","tag-pastors","tag-reformation","tag-ulrich-zwingli"],"yoast_head":"\nKevin DeYoung Speaks Wisely About Celebrity Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Kevin DeYoung has just posted a manifestly helpful piece on the hot-potato topic of "celebrity pastors."\u00a0 I commend it to you; 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