Somebody once said, “The Gospel came to the Greeks and the Greeks turned it into a philosophy. The Gospel came to the Romans and the Romans turned it into a system. The Gospel came to the Europeans and the Europeans turned it into a culture. The Gospel came to America and the Americans turned it into a business.” And business is booming. Millions of churchgoers file in to buildings each week, line up in rows like shelves at Wal-Mart, and watch the stage. They come for one purpose: to see a show and hear a pastor. – Ed Stetzer

 When I read the New Testament I see a church dedicated, not to a philosophy nor a system nor a culture nor a business – rather, dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ and his people. As soon as we regularize details we lose the relationship dimension. As soon as we institutionalize we lose the interdependence. As soon as we value market strategy we lose the value of Holy Spirit leading.

 Stetzer goes on to say that this kind of environment has nurtured the growth of the “Pastor as Rock Star”. I say that ‘super-stardom’ was not the quest Jesus was on. Nor is it to be the quest of his church.

 Like a horde of persistent, screaming and obsessed ‘groupies’, too many undesirables (people, policy, procedure, products, and personality) are attracted to those in the ’fame game’. This is the underbelly, the dark side of popularity, and it is attached to stardom, like barnacles on a boat.

 O Lord, keep us from the temptation to hope for ‘Rock Star fame’.