1 Corinthians 1:10-18 (New International Version)
10I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that
there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly
united in mind and thought. 11My brothers, some from Chloe's
household have informed me that there are quarrels among
you. 12What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow
Paul”; another, “I follow Apollos”; another, “I
follow Cephas”; still another, “I follow Christ.”
13Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you
baptized into the name of Paul? 14I am thankful that I
did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15so
no
one can say that you were baptized into my name. 16(Yes,
I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that,
I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.) 17For Christ
did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not
with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be
emptied of its power.
18For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who
are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power
of God.
___________________________________________________________________
As Babe Ruth approached the twilight of his career, he was playing in Cincinnati.
He was now striking out more often than getting hits, and his play had deteriorated
to the point that fans actually were booing him.
On one such occasion, after striking out, Babe was walking
dejectedly back to the dugout amidst the boos of the crowd.
Suddenly, a small boy, tears streaming down his face, ran
onto the field and threw his arms around Babe's legs. Ruth's
good-natured grin returned as he reached down and took him
into his arms, talking to him as they continued to the dugout.
The booing ceased. The crowd was so touched by the adoration
of this little boy for his hero that they silently stood
in tribute.
Having heroes—being a fan of certain players is a
part of life. Our kids ask to have a certain player’s
number when they play hockey. You hear them offering their
own play-by-play pretending to be famous athletes as they
dunk a basketball or make a great catch in the outfield.
Stars are being made all the time—in sports, in music,
movies and TV. Fans gather around to catch glimpses of
their heroes. They want to touch them or get their autograph.
The names given to newborns often reflect what people are
popular at the time of the baby’s birth. I read
recently that current birth registrations have shown
a marked increase
in the names Keira as in Knightly, Scarlett as in Johansson
and Britney as in Spears.
More and more our society is developing a “cult of
personality”. Attention is drawn to and focus is placed
on individuals in ways we’ve never seen before. Personal
image is paramount. For people in the limelight image is
cultivated and manipulated to present exactly what they
want to show. Image becomes reality for public consumption.
Individuals
become faces that define and sell products.
It’s not just happening in sports and entertainment.
Politics has become very image conscious. The “cult
of personality” is what helps people get elected. It’s
what has us calling the Ontario government McGinty’s
Liberals and the feds—Paul Martin’s government.
We have a parliamentary party system that has developed a “Presidential” look.
Now, having heroes is good. It provides us with people
to look up to—to model ourselves after—to be
fans of in the best sense of the word. But buying in to the “cult
of personality” is a little different. That has the
potential to be a lot less positive and a lot more troublesome.
Human nature hasn’t changed too much down through
the ages. The Apostle Paul found himself in the midst of
hero worship and an ancient form of “cult of personality”.
Our lesson from 1 Corinthians has Paul weighing in on one
of the many problems the Church in Corinth was having. They
were a divided group along many lines. One of the divisions
had to do with, for want of a better term: who their favourite
leader was.
It was almost a popularity contest.
Paul was one of the unwilling contestants. Years before
Paul had started the congregation and had developed a
great deal of loyalty amongst the people. But Paul’s
responsibility had been to preach the Gospel, start the Church
and then
move on to start other Churches. He was never to be their
long-term pastor or leader. Those responsibilities had
been handed off to elders Paul had trained.
Another group said they followed Apollos. Apollos was a
very gifted itinerant preacher who had spent some time
in Corinth. He had made a wonderful impression and many had
come to admire and respect his ministry. They wanted
to hear
Apollos preach and if he wasn’t there their interest
waned.
The third division longed for a traditional leader. They
followed Cephas. Now Cephas is another word for Peter.
So this group weren’t satisfied with the original Gospel
preached to them by Paul. Paul’s credentials as an
Apostle weren’t strong enough for them. They wanted
to follow the teachings of someone who had actually been
one of the original twelve disciples—someone who had
been with Jesus—someone who had talked to Jesus—someone
who had experienced the Lord absolutely first hand. And
so, they aligned themselves with Peter, who Jesus had called
the rock upon whom Jesus would build His Church.
And finally there were those who actually had it right.
They were the ones who said they followed Christ. But
Paul still seems to be uneasy with this group. We can assume
they
had it right but weren’t very gracious or loving
in making their point with the others.
Still, Paul followed up with the truth that the Church
in Corinth—any Church for that matter—wasn’t
Paul’s Church. It wasn’t the Church of Apollos.
It didn’t belong to Peter. The Church in Corinth,
and any other Christian gathering, was part of the Church
of
Jesus Christ.
None of Paul, Apollos, Peter had died on the Cross for
the people.
New believers weren’t baptized into the name of Paul.
Christians weren’t to gather to worship the one who
founded the Church or preached at the Church or taught
about the faith.
The focus on human leaders was way off base.
As the groups argued about who was their favourite, they
had lost sight of the One who had saved them—the
One whose Spirit brought them to faith and continued
to empower their lives.
Paul, Apollos and Peter were just the messengers.
They weren’t the message.
Messengers shouldn’t be shot when the news is bad.
Neither should they be worshipped when the news is good.
The news was not about them.
It was about Jesus Christ, Son of God, Saviour and Lord.
But Jesus was no longer there to be seen, heard or talked
to.
They couldn’t write to Jesus and have the Lord come
to visit them in the flesh.
They didn’t have the tangible presence of the One who had died and
been raised from the dead for them.
So they focused on those they could see and hear and talk
to.
They focused on the ones they could relate to more easily.
And the result was hero worship gone wrong—a popularity
contest instead of a loyalty to Christ.
And two thousand years later the same thing happens all
the time.
There is always the danger of a cult of personality developing
in the Church around ministers.
Ministers are supposed to reflect Christ in a tangible way.
I remember many years ago going to visit a family in the
Church who had a four year old. When I approached the door
the little guy saw me and turned to run to his parents
shouting in a loud, clear voice: “Mom, Dad, God is
here!!”
It must have had something to do with being big, standing
in front of people and speaking every week and wearing this
rather unique gown, but that child mixed up the messenger
with the message and the One who sent the message.
Believe me, that kind of mix up, even in the mind of a four
year old, is very scary!
But the truth is people are able to see, hear and talk to
ministers in ways that are so much easier than praying. People
can get tangible responses to their questions and concerns
when they talk to a real, live person while their questions
and concerns expressed to God can simply seem to disappear
in the air.
There can also be a sense that the minister is somehow closer
to God than other people. I don’t know how many
times people have suggested that I should have better
control over
the weather because of my contacts.
Ministers offer leadership, teaching and pastoral care that
can be helpful to people in the midst of their problems and
pain. As a result, special and important relationships of
trust and care can be developed between clergy and people
in their flock.
All these things about ministers being close to God and
offering special care to their people and developing special
relationships are part and parcel of ministry. Mutual caring,
loyalty and respect between minister and congregation, hopefully,
is the norm.
But the danger comes when the minister becomes the focus
of attention.
When I see a picture of the minister in Church advertising
in the paper, on bus stop benches and in leaflets and brochures,
I wonder why the minister’s face has to shown.
What on earth does what the minister looks like have to do with encouraging
people to come to Church?
When I hear of a minister being given a very hard time
as they follow in the footsteps of a much beloved former
minister, I wonder about the fairness and focus of people.
When I see ministers on TV or in local congregations being
treated like stars and celebrities, I wonder whom the people
are gathering to worship.
Henry Ward Beecher was to be absent from the pulpit of
Plymouth Church one Sunday, and he asked his brother
to preach for him. As the worship service
was beginning, and it became apparent that the great preacher would not
be speaking that morning, some people got up to leave.
At that point, Beecher's
brother stepped into pulpit and said, "All of those who came to hear
Henry Ward Beecher this morning should take this opportunity to leave; all
of those who came to worship God may remain." No one else left the
sanctuary.
Henry Ward Beecher died in 1887 so the problem isn’t
just Paul’s and ours. It has been going on from day
one.
And it will continue to go on.
It’s a part of human nature.
Sadly the flip side also happens. The flip side occurs
when people don’t
like the minister. They don’t like the minister’s preaching. They
don’t like the minister’s visiting. They don’t like the things
the minister emphasizes. They don’t like the minister. And so they don’t
come to Church.
Of course the solution to both sides of the issue is to
constantly remind ourselves that we come to Church to worship
Jesus Christ.
We come for the message.
We come to honour the One who originated the message.
We come to praise God and give our commitment to growing
in our relationship with the Lord.
The messenger will always be a factor but should never
be the focus.
Messengers come and messengers go.
But the message and the One, who originated it, will last long after we have
stopped worshipping God in this life and are offering praise, honour and
glory to our Lord forever and ever in Heaven.
(1779)
©
The Rev. Dennis Cook, St. Timothy’s Presbyterian Church, Ajax, ON,
Canada
