Celebrity God

Celebrity:  (n) a celebrated person

There are probably more celebrities in society right now than have ever been at one time.  An increasing number of ‘nobodies’ are becoming household names seemingly overnight.  Casually dropping one of these names into a conversation will almost certainly get a reaction, sometimes even drawing strong emotional responses from those in the room.  

These celebrities are instantly recognizable to their fans who can tell you everything you ever wanted to know and so much more about their favorites, naming every title an actor has played in, and probably quoting their lines to you; naming all the albums an artist had released, and probably singing the lyrics to all their songs; listing endless stats on sports heroes.  Oftentimes, they even know details of their past and personal lives.

But in spite of a fan knowing a celebrity so well, they oddly never go out for coffee together or send each other text messages.  Why?  Because they don’t actually know them.  They just know a lot about them.  They’re fans, not friends.

When I was growing up, the song “Jesus Fan” was quite popular.  It seems we’ve created a lot of Jesus fans since then.  They love to come to church and celebrate Jesus.  They often clap harder, sing louder and praise with greater exuberance than most others present.  They can tell you anything you want to know about the life and ministry of Jesus.  Many of them can quote scripture better than I can, and I’m a former Bible quizzer and Bible college graduate.  Yet, because they are just fans, they don’t actually know Jesus.  He’s just their favorite celebrity.

Many of them are even in the ministry.  We read about them in Matthew 7:21-23 (KJV):

Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

So “wonderful works” is not an indicator of one’s spiritual condition.  Similarly, working for the Lord doesn’t make you a friend of God anymore than being a government employee makes you pals with your head of state.  You can busy yourself with church maintenance, groundskeeping, bookkeeping, outreach, etc., etc., but if you never take time to acquaint yourself with the one you’re working for, you’ve missed the point.  

Enter Proverbs 3:6 (NKJV): In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.

The word “acknowledge” in this verse is translated from the Hebrew word, “yada,” meaning “to know.”  As a matter of fact, this word is used dozens of time in scripture and is almost always translated into our English translations as “know.” So a better translation of Proverbs 3:6 might be:

In all your ways know Him, and He shall direct your paths.

When I go to the store, if I decide to buy something for my wife, I don’t need to call her mother to ask what she likes.  I know my wife likes Mars bars and roses.  I know her favorite color is pink.  I know she doesn’t drink soda pop, but she likes Kiwi-Strawberry Vitamin Water.  My knowledge of her directs my path in choosing what to purchase.

Back when WWJD was at its peak, church kids everywhere wore WWJD hats, T-shirts, arm bands, etc.  The idea was that when they found themselves facing a difficult decision, they would ask the question, “What would Jesus do?”  Unfortunately, many of them couldn’t answer that question.  They had no idea what Jesus would do in that situation, because they didn’t know him well enough to say.

So how do you get to know Him?  The same way you get to know anyone, by spending time with them.  I once heard C.B. Dudley say, “You don’t fall in love, you learn to love.”  It’s a process requires your time.  As you spend time talking to God in prayer and allowing Him to speak to you through His Word and by His Spirit, a relationship develops.  

Exodus 33:11 says, “So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. And he would return to the camp, but his servant Joshua the son of Nun, a young man, did not depart from the tabernacle.” (NKJV)

I wish every young minister could get ahold of this verse.  The young man, Joshua, has the amazing privilege of job shadowing Moses.  What young man wouldn’t want that gig?  You would think Joshua would spend every moment he could with his mentor.  But when Moses left the tabernacle, Joshua didn’t follow.  He remained in the presence of the Lord.  He understood who he really needed to know.

When I was in Bible College, we would occasionally get a visit from a representative from headquarters in St. Louis.  While there, they would usually speak to the student body in chapel service.  However, they usually had just enough time to preach and give an altar call before rushing out the door to catch a flight.

Without exception, he would be accosted by the same contingent of starry-eyed young men hoping to impress him with their flattery, and hoping that he would remember them, giving them a vital contact for future use.  Perhaps they even thought that by rubbing shoulders with a great man of God, maybe some of his anointing might rub off on them.  Most of them are not even in the ministry today, some of them not even serving the Lord.

But the ones who chose rather to seek God in the altar and draw closer to Him, they are the ones who went on to do great things in ministry.

The more you get to know Him, the more you love Him.  The more you love Him, the more you want to please Him.

One year, I was the children’s evangelist at Bannon Camp in New Brunswick.  While walking across the campgrounds one day, I noticed several boys rolling up a hill.  This struck me as odd, because in my childhood memories, it was more fun (and much less work) to roll down a hill than up it.  Nevertheless, up the hill they rolled.  When they reached the top, they came and stood proud as peacocks in front of a girl.  

By this time, I was close enough to hear what was being said.  She looked at them intently and then said, “Okay, now, if you like me, roll in the dirt!”  And boy, did they.  Dust flew everywhere as they all competed to see who could get the dirtiest.  They didn’t care how ridiculous they looked.  They didn’t care what anybody else thought, because all they wanted to do was please that girl who said, “If you like me, roll in the dirt.”

Jesus said, “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:5), yet so many struggle with doing so because they’re afraid of what others might think of them.  They’re less concerned with pleasing Him and more concerned with pleasing themselves or others.  They don’t know Him.  It would be easy if they truly knew Him.

I John 2:4 says, “If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth.” (NLT)

And Jesus said in John 8:31-32 (NLT) “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings.  And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (NLT)

Don’t just celebrate Him.  Know Him.  He’s coming back for them that know Him, not for His fan club!