Is it wrong to want to be popular? Influential? Known? Yes and no.
Yes… it’s wrong when we seek to be popular at the expense of being true. Jesus told a crowd, “There’s trouble ahead when you live only for the approval of others, saying what flatters them, doing what indulges them. Popularity contests are not truth contests—look how many scoundrel preachers were approved by your ancestors! Your task is to be true, not popular.” [1]
Hold on a minute!! Is this from the same guy who talked about hiring secret shoppers (or mystery worshippers)? Or the one who talked about “The Secret” to ministry success? Yup. It’s me.
I’m lost Mike!
Let me explain: there is danger when your main objective is to popular. Because you will do anything necessary to attain that popularity-you’ll build, say, or do anything to be on people’s good side.
Story of a Popular Pastor
Just ask Aaron.
Moses left the people to go commune with God—and was gone 40 days and 40 nights. He left Aaron in charge. Everything was going pretty good until the people got impatient: “When the people saw how long it was taking Moses to come back down the mountain, they gathered around Aaron. ‘Come on,’ they said, ‘make us some gods who can lead us. We don’t know what happened to this fellow Moses, who brought us here from the land of Egypt.’” [2]
So here’s the leader at a crossroad: Remain true and point the people back to God OR become popular and do what the people want. He chose the latter. He told them to bring their gold to him, he melted them down, and molded it into the shape of a calf. “When the people saw it, they exclaimed, ‘O Israel, these are the gods who brought you out of the land of Egypt!’” [3]
Now look at that Aaron just tripled his approval ratings! He was on the cutting edge. He saw what the people wanted and exceeded their expectations. He was the man!! He knew it too: “Aaron saw how excited the people were, so he built an altar in front of the calf. Then he announced, ‘Tomorrow will be a festival to the Lord!’” [4]
Be True Not Popular
Aaron buckled under the desires of the people and gave them what they wanted. That’s not being a servant.
A true servant caters to the needs of people not their desires. A true servant will tell people about Christ because they need to hear it not because they want to. A true servant will confront and correct because they need to be confronted not because they want to. And a true servant will say “no” to a majority’s overwhelming “yes.” I don’t want to condemn Aaron because I’ve made that mistake. How about you?
I’m for progress. I’m for redeeming resources (like technology) for God’s work. I’m for innovation. I’m for moving forward. But…I am not for changing our methods and our Message. I’m not for building golden calves.
What are your thoughts?
- Luke 6: 26 (The Message)
- Exodus 32:1 (New Living Translation)
- Exodus 32:4 (New Living Translation)
- Exodus 32:5 (New Living Translation)
