Everyone is imperfect, including our church and political leaders. Our Christian celebrities, favorite pastors, and authors are all only human and are subject to mistakes. In our culture, celebrity and popular leaders are highly valued, but those who admire them are oftentimes disappointed by their failures. Sometimes, Christians are far too easily led by the sheep rather than the Shepherd, Christ Jesus.
The danger of “spoon-fed” Christianity
This comes as no surprise. Any well-known spiritual author makes fewer demands of his or her reader than Jesus does. It is easier to listen to a celebrity preacher who has years of experience in communicating and speaking than it is to pick up the Bible or to spend a significant amount of time in prayer.
If you look at the average American Christian’s bookshelf you may find commentaries, biographies, and books on spiritual matters bought from the Christian bookstore, alongside several copies of the Bible. While these books are good and rightly appreciated, we can be tempted to use them in place of the Scriptures. The author has gone before us and done all the heavy lifting, reading the Word, dissecting it and drawing out many truths for us. All we have to do is swallow the pre-digested nuggets. This is not an expression of Christian vitality.
The Christian life is expressed in the Bible as a “walk,” or in some cases, a “race.” This implies action. Actively seeking nearness to God through personal time in the Word and in prayer is the only prescribed way to grow spiritually. The measure with which we pursue the Gospel is the measure to which we will obey it. We should not settle for being spoon-fed by fellow Christians when we are supposed to be nourished by Christ Himself.
Knowing the difference between respect and adherence
God has blessed us with so many godly authorities and leaders that it would be foolish to not listen to them. But in our listening, we have to remember their mission is to point us to Jesus and His teaching, not themselves. If we ever find ourselves thinking “This preacher said such-and-such, so that’s what I’ll believe,” then we’re on dangerous ground.
Acknowledging the authority and experience of a leader is one thing; adherence to everything that leader teaches is another. Many teachers deserve our respect, even if we do not agree with everything they teach. The only teacher that deserves our adherence, however, is Christ Himself.
Follow the Shepherd
We are not autonomous. Just as our leaders are imperfect, so are we. We don’t just need a roadmap for this Christian walk; we need Christ to carry us along the path. We stray after every little distraction, be it struggling over internal issues or following blindly after one of our fellow sheep that happens to have a few good ideas. But we don’t have to live this way. Let’s take comfort knowing that our Shepherd came to help the helpless and weak.
