Beware of the "Trap" of Hero Worship!
– Part 2

"It seems to me that where you have Biblical ignorance—a lack of or absence of a "whole Biblical concept of scripture in teaching, preaching and of how one conducts all aspects of his or her own professed Christian life", this "trend" of hero worship arises"
  Dr. Harley Howard

            I’m not going to take time to review in any great detail what was written in Part 1. All you need to do is to go back and read the article yourself. There is no question—none whatsoever, that many of us, if not all of us, are, or have been, to some degree, affected by this madness of "Hero Worship". By hero worship, I mean that it is clear that instead of the scriptures being the central focus of preaching and teaching, we have now leaned to "Heroes" for support and are not ashamed to quote as many names as possible, both of alive and of dead heroes. Instead of quoting from the only reliable source of absolute truth, the scriptures themselves, we now rely on our heroes to support the validity of what we believe or teach. We have become a church of "Name Dropping!"

I made mention in Part 1 that this "Hero Worship" is literally destroying our churches and many saints and frankly, our own ministries! Well what do you mean by that?

Think with me. If you get your congregation to believe that they can listen to these various and sundry voices and it not affect how the sheep listen to you, you are going to be in for a big and disappointing surprise!

When you preach, teach, or pastor, the people covertly will compare you and your preaching to their "Heroes". Your preaching and teaching will be underminded because in their thinking you will always be compared to their "Heroes" and you had better fit the bill! Don’t be fooled, my friend, I know of what I speak! And pray that these "Heroes" are not Pastoring large congregations and pray even more that they do not have a large radio and or an attractive TV ministry, so-called, or a nice and spacious facility—unlike the cramped and no-so-spacious place where you meet. You will set in motion the destruction of your credibility before the people God has set before you to serve.

The people you shepherd should be following and listening to YOU, not every shepherd in the universe, and by the way, these large ministries don’t mind one bit to sell you an infinite amount of their tapes because their Pastor is popular and has a large outreach and because of the promotion of this man, you and I should buy their tapes, videos, etc.

Think with me. Do you think for a moment that they would buy any of your tapes? When was the last time you received an order form from any of these churches or these, so-called, mega-ministries to purchase your materials? Do you think that your ministry and message is so inferior to theirs that you are trying to compete with the standard of the "Hero" of the people and of yourself? Do you see what you are doing to yourself and the people you shepherd, my friend?

• Never believe that your ministry has to rise to the level of any of these men!
  
  
• Never give the people the impression that you are so inferior that you have to bus or fly your people to all of these conventions and seminars and whatever to get something you think you lack in the ministry God called you to do!
  
  
• Don’t undermine the very work God has called you to do to the people He has called you to shepherd.

You feel so inferior and you think to yourself that you need to rise to the level of this "Hero", even if it means becoming a poor and needless imitation of this "man". We are not to be imitating ANY man, but Christ! We are being (or should be) conformed to the image of Christ!

I remember when I attended Liberty Baptist College (It was called that when I attended in the 70’s) that the school sponsored a "preaching contest" in the gym during the chapel hour. We all had our favorite student that impressed us because of their skill or way to hold the audience’s attention. It was all done with the fervor of a sporting event! (Sad!) Many men spoke that day, but there was one young man who attempted to imitate one of the most popular speakers on campus and it was a disgrace! Oh he did imitate him to a tee! He was able to mimic all of the facial expressions, voice fluctuations, hand and arm gestures and even this man’s wit. BUT HE WAS NOT THAT MAN—HE WAS AN IMITATION! It silenced the entire chapel and should have.

Now I gave you this illustration as a warning—be the man God called you to be! God called you into the ministry to be who He made you to be. In fact, ask yourself the question: "What is it that the Lord commanded me to do and a I doing it?"

• What has God commanded you to do?
• Well, are you doing it my friend?
• Are you content with what the Lord has commanded you to do?
• Are you satisfied with God’s use of you, or do you feel that your plan is better?
• Are you satisfied with the people God gave you to shepherd?—The size and the character of the people?
• Are you content?
• Are you doing God’s will in evangelism and because you don’t see the result you think you need to see—like your heroes—you think that you need a method or a gimmick to get things going?

You see, my friend, we are not even aware of the very undermining of our own life and ministry and of the very work that God has called us to do.

And what about our people? Are they so confused because we have them buying all of these tapes and books of others? Why don’t YOU write a book of a study tool to help the people God has placed in your care? Are you trying to convince yourself that you are so incapable of enough spiritual thought and experience that you cannot write materials that can help your people? Sad, sad indeed!

Am I advocating a bunker mentality? Am I suggesting that we buy no books, no tools, no study aids, no tapes, videos, etc? Am I suggesting that we should never go to any conventions or seminars?

ABSOLUTELY NOT!!

But if you have to find yourself spiritually and you believe that God’s call of your life is insufficient to the degree that you have to find some "Hero" to worship, then you really need to get a grip on your so-called calling and ministry and have the sense enough to understand that these "Heroes" believe that you are inferior unless you get their stuff and you know full well that you will never get an invitation to speak nowhere near their church, nor sell them a single cassette—and you know it!

All of these things undermine the work that God has called you to do.

Another destruction to your ministry, the people and your credibility, is all of this "Spiritual Name Dropping". As I mentioned in Part 1:

"We are still notorious for quoting from dead men without the least bit of information of what many of these so-called "spiritual giants" actually believed FROM THEIR OWN WRITINGS! We have been caught up in the name dropping and never questioned the one(s) who gave us the quotations, or the source of where these quotations came from!"

(Frankly, quoting from many of these men who are alive can hurt your ministry too!)

So many of us are quoting from other men because our "Heroes" do and since we have not much sense to search out the quotations ourselves, we just believe that because our "Heroes" are doing it, then it must be right….Think again!

Here are some examples of some who are routinely quoted by church "Heroes" who are as wrong as can be, and this, FROM THEIR OWN WRITINGS!!

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

The following is a summary of beliefs and influence of Dietrich Bonhoeffer as taken from some of the over 14 books and documents attributed to him:

1. He believed that "God is teaching us that we must live as men who can get along very well without Him. The God who is with us is the God who forsakes us." Bonhoeffer also believed that the concept of God as a "supreme Being, absolute in power and goodness," was a "spurious conception of transcendence," and that "God as a working hypothesis in morals, politics, and science ... should be dropped, or as far as possible eliminated" (Letters and Papers from Prison, S.C.M. Press edition, Great Britian: Fontana Books, 1953, pp. 122, 164, 360).

2. He believed that mankind had become of age and no longer needed religion, which was only a deceptive garment of true faith; he suggested the need for a "religionless Christianity." To Bonhoeffer, "the Christian is identified not by his beliefs, but by actions, by his participation in the suffering of God in the life of the world" (Letters and Papers from Prison, S.C.M. Press edition, Great Britian: Fontana Books, 1953, p. 163).

3. He refused to discuss the origin of Christ, His relationship to the Father, His two natures, or even the relationship of the two natures. Bonhoeffer was adamant in his belief that it was impossible to know the objective truth about the real essence of Christ's being-nature. (Christ the Center, pp. 30, 88, 100-101).

4. He questioned the Virgin Birth, and in reality denied it (The Cost of Discipleship, p. 215).

5. He denied the deity of Christ; he advocated that "Jesus Christ Today" is not a real person and being, but a "corporate presence" (Testimony to Freedom, pp. 75-76; Christ the Center, p. 58).

6. He denied the sinlessness of Christ's human nature and further questioned the sinlessness of His earthly behavior (Christ the Center, pp. 108-109).

7. He believed that Christ exists in three "revelatory forms"--as Word, as sacrament, and as church. From asserting that Christ is the church, he followed that all persons in the church are identical with Christ (Christ the Center, p. 58; The Cost of Discipleship, p. 217). This amounts to pantheism!

8. He believed that Christianity is not exclusive, i.e., that Christ is not the only way to God.(Testimony to Freedon, pp. 55-56).

9. He was a prominent figure in the early ecumenical movement, as evidenced through his associations with the "World Alliance for International Friendship" (a forerunner of the apostate World Council of Churches), Union Theological Seminary, and Visser 't Hooft (who later became the first General Secretary of the WCC) (Testimony to Freedom, pp. 22, 212, 568).

10. He was a practical evolutionist (No Rusty Swords, p. 143), and believed that the book of Genesis was scientifically naive and full of myths.(Creation and Fall: A Theological Interpretation of Genesis 1-3 ).

11. He adhered to neo-orthodox theology and terminology concerning salvation (Testimony to Freedom, p. 130), was a sacramentalist (Life Together, p. 122; The Way to Freedom, pp. 115, 153), believed in regenerational infant baptism (Letters and Papers from Prison, Macmillan, pp. 142-143) as well as adult baptismal regeneration (The Way to Freedom, p. 151), equated church membership with salvation (The Way to Freedom, p. 93), and denied a personal/individualistic salvation (Letters and Papers from Prison, Macmillan, p. 156).

12. He placed little or no value on the Old Testament--"... the faith of the Old Testament is not a religion of salvation" (Letters and Papers from Prison, S.C.M. Press edition, Great Britian: Fontana Books, 1953, p. 112).

13. He denied the verbal-plenary inspiration of Scripture, believing that the Bible was only a "witness" to the Word of God and becomes the Word of God only when it "speaks" to an individual; otherwise, it was simply the word of man/men (Testimony to Freedom, pp. 9, 104; Sanctorum Communio, p. 161). To Bonhoeffer, the Bible was meant "to be expounded as a witness, not as a book of wisdom, a teaching book, a book of eternal truth" (No Rusty Swords, p. 118). He also believed in the value of higher criticism/historical criticism, which is a denial of the inerrancy and authenticity of the Bible (Christ the Center, pp. 73-74).

14. He had no faith in the physical resurrection of Christ. Bonhoeffer believed the "historicity" of the Resurrection was in "the realm of ambiguity," and that it was one of the "mythological" elements of Christianity that "must be interpreted in such a way as not to make religion a pre-condition of faith." He also believed that "Belief in the Resurrection is not the solution of the problem of death," and that such things as miracles and the ascension of Christ were "mythological conceptions" as well. (Christ the Center, p. 112; (Letters and Papers from Prison, S.C.M. Press edition, Great Britian: Fontana Books, 1953, pp. 93-94, 110).

CS Lewis

• GD=The Great Divorce;
• LM=Letters to Malcolm,
• M=Miracles,
• MC=Mere Christianity;
• PP=The Problem of Pain;
• RP=Reflections on the Psalms,
• SJ=Surprised by Joy,
• SL=The Screwtape Letters:

  Theology Proper
  On Creation: Lewis believed that evolution was true to an extent in the past, but that it will be superseded in the future (MC, p.169). "... for we have good reason to believe that animals existed long before men. ... For long centuries God perfected the animal form which was to become the vehicle of humanity and the image of Himself ... [Eventually,] God caused a new kind of consciousness to descend upon this organism" (PP, pp.133,77). "... Man, the highest of the animals" (MC, p.139); "... but he (man) remains still a primate and an animal" (RP, pp.115,129); "If ... you mean simply that man is physically descended from animals, I have no objection" (PP, p.72) "He made an earth at first 'without form and void' and brought it by degrees to its perfection" (M, p.125). Nature's "pregnancy has been long and painful and anxious, but it has reached its climax" (MC, p.172). He held that the Genesis account came from Pagan and mythical sources (RP, p.110).
  
  Anthropology
  On the depravity of man: "... when the consequence is drawn that, since we are totally depraved, our idea of good is worth simply nothing--may thus turn Christianity into a form of devil worship" (PP, pp.37-38). The divine goodness differs "from ours not as white and black but as a perfect circle from a child's first attempt to draw a wheel" (PP, p.39). Total depravity was rejected by Lewis ("I disbelieve that doctrine") because: (1) If we were totally depraved we could not know ourselves to be depraved; (2) Experience shows that there is much goodness in human nature (PP, p.66).
  
  Soteriology
  How salvation (the general scope) works: "There are people in other religions who are being led by God's secret influence to concentrate on those parts of their religion which are in agreement with Christianity, and who thus belong to Christ without knowing it ... For example a Buddhist of good will ... Many of the good Pagans long before Christ's birth may have been in this position" (MC, p.162). God "often makes prizes of humans who have given their lives for causes He thinks bad on the monstrously sophistical ground that the humans thought them good and were following the best they knew" (SL, p.26). "There are three things that spread the Christ-life to us: baptism, belief, and that mysterious action which different Christians call by different names--Holy Communion, the Mass, the Lord's Supper" (MC, p.47). In the other world "there will be every occasion for being the sort of people that we can become only as the result of doing such acts here" (MC, p.63).

  On losing salvation: "There are people (a great many of them) who are slowly ceasing to be Christians ..." (MC, p.162). "... a Christian can lose the Christ-life which has been put into him, and he has to make efforts to keep it" (MC, p.49).

  On being "Born Again": "... ye must be born again. Till then, we have duty, morality, the Law. A schoolmaster, as St. Paul says.... But the schooldays, please God, are numbered" (LM, p.115). [Note: In context, to be "born again," for Lewis, is somewhere down the road yet (MC, pp.59,60).]
  
  The Hereafter
  On heaven: "All the scriptural imagery (harps, crowns, gold, etc.) is, of course, a merely symbolical attempt to express the inexpressible. Musical instruments are mentioned because for many people (not all) music is the thing known in the present life which most strongly suggests ecstasy and infinity. Crowns are mentioned to suggest the fact that those who are united with God in eternity share His splendor and power and joy. Gold is mentioned to suggest the timelessness of heaven (gold does not rust) and the preciousness of it" (MC, p.106). "The point is not that God will refuse you admission to His eternal world if you have not certain qualities of character: the point is that if people have not got at least the beginnings of those qualities inside them, then no possible external conditions could make a 'Heaven' for them ..." (MC, p.63).

  On animals in heaven: "The redemptive function" of man toward animals--"It seems to me possible that certain animals may have an immortality, not in themselves, but in the immortality of their masters" (PP, pp.136,139-140). Lewis also pictures animals in heaven as partaking of the Christ-life through a saintly woman (GD, p.108).
  
  Bibliology
  "I have the deepest respect for Pagan myths, still more for myths in the Holy Scriptures" (PP, p.71).

Mother Teresa

(a) "The dying, the crippled, the mentally ill, the unwanted, the unloved--they are Jesus in disguise. ... [through the] poor people I have an opportunity to be 24 hours a day with Jesus." [On another occasion, she again demonstrated her pantheistic religious philosophy: "Every AIDS victim is Jesus in a pitiful disguise; Jesus is in everyone.. ... [AIDS sufferers are] children of God [who] have been created for greater things" (1/13/86, Time).]

(b) "You must make them feel loved and wanted. They are Jesus for me."

(c) "I love all religions. ... If people become better Hindus, better Muslims, better Buddhists by our acts of love, then there is something else growing there." [On another occasion, she again demonstrated her false gospel that 'there are many ways to God': "All is God--Buddhists, Hindus, Christians, etc., all have access to the same God."]

- In her book, Life in the Spirit: Reflections, Meditations, and Prayers, "Mother" Teresa says on pp. 81-82:

"We never try to convert those who receive [aid from Missionaries of Charity] to Christianity but in our work we bear witness to the love of God's presence and if Catholics, Protestants, Buddhists, or agnostics become for this better men--simply better--we will be satisfied. It matters to the individual what church he belongs to. If that individual thinks and believes that this is the only way to God for her or him, this is the way God comes into their life--his life. If he does not know any other way and if he has no doubt so that he does not need to search then this is his way to salvation."

Consider some quotes from her speech at the 10/84 Worldwide Retreat for Priests:

"At the word of a priest, that little piece of bread becomes the body of Christ, the Bread of Life."

"Without a priest, without Jesus going with them, our sisters couldn't go anywhere."

"When the priest is there, then can we have our altar and our tabernacle and our Jesus. Only the priest put Jesus there for us. ... Jesus wants to go there, but we cannot bring him unless you first give him to us. This is why I love priests so much. We could never be what we are and do the things we do without you priests who first bring Jesus to us."

"Mary ... is our patroness and our Mother, and she is always leading us to Jesus."

In an interview with a nun who worked with "Mother" Teresa , dying Hindus were instructed to pray to their own Hindu gods! (reported in Christian News):

"These people are waiting to die. What are you telling them to prepare them for death and eternity? She replied candidly, 'We tell them to pray to their Bhagwan, to their gods.'"

The following is from an interview with a Catholic nun, "Sister" Ann, who worked in Kathman-du, Nepal, with "Mother" Teresa's organization Missionaries of Charity. The interview was conducted 11/23/84 at the Pashupati Temple:

Q: Do you believe if they die believing in Shiva or in Ram [Hindu gods] they will go to heaven?

A: Yes, that is their faith. My own faith will lead me to God, ... So if they have believed in their god very strongly, if they have faith, surely they will be saved.

Q: Today it does not seem that the Catholic Church is trying to convert anymore. I know that John Paul II is saying now that those of other religions are saved. You do not believe they are lost anyway, right?

A: No, they are not lost. They are saved according to their faith, you know. If they believe whatever they believe, that is their salvation.

Martin Luther

The following excerpts are from the Small Catechism:

1. Luther & the Altering of the Ten Commandments -- Luther's rendering of the Ten Commandments follow:

(1) You must not have other gods.
(2) You must not misuse your God's name.
(3) You must keep the Sabbath holy.
(4) You must honor your father and mother. [So that things will go well for you and you will live long on earth].
(5) You must not kill.
(6) You must not commit adultery.
(7) You must not steal.
(8) You must not tell lies about your neighbor.
(9) You must not desire your neighbor's house.
(10) You must not desire your neighbor's wife, servant, maid, animals or anything that belongs to him.

Notice how the Second Commandment of God (Idol/Image-making--Exo. 20:4-6) is nowhere to be found! Instead, to come up with Ten Commandments (after eliminating No. 2 and renumbering the remaining No.'s 2-9), God's Commandment No. 10 is divided into two parts to get No.'s 9 & 10. This is EXACTLY what you will find in the Roman Catholic Catechism. It's easy to understand why popery wanted no prohibition against idols, statutes, and images, but isn't it strange that Luther went along with this altering of the Word of God! (cf. Deut. 4:2; 12:32; Prov. 30:5-6; 2 Pe. 3:15-16; Rev. 22:19).

Not surprising from a man who would alter Scripture, Luther did not believe in the inerrancy of Scripture either. Well known is his low esteem of the epistle of James. He called it an "epistle of straw." In his opinion, it did not contain the gospel. In his translation of the Bible, Luther placed the epistle of James after Revelation, because he disliked it so much.

2. Luther & Baptismal Regeneration -- (Note specifically: II.)
The Sacrament of Holy Baptism: The Simple Way a Father Should Present it to His Household.

I. Q. What is Baptism?

A. Baptism is not just plain water, but it is water contained within God's command and united with God's Word.

II. Q. What does Baptism give? What good is it?

A. It gives the forgiveness of sins, redeems from death and the Devil, gives eternal salvation to all who believe this, just as God's words and promises declare.

Q. What are these words and promises of God?

A. Our Lord Christ spoke one of them in the last chapter of Mark: "Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; but whoever does not believe will be damned."

III.Q. How can water do such great things?

A. Water doesn't make these things happen, of course. It is God's Word, which is with and in the water. Because, without God's Word, the water is plain water and not baptism. But with God's Word it is a Baptism, a grace-filled water of life, a bath of a new birth in the Holy Spirit, as St. Paul said to Titus in the third chapter: "Through this bath of rebirth and renewal of the Holy Spirit, which He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior, that we, justified by the same grace are made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. This is a faithful saying."

IV. Q. What is the meaning of such a water Baptism?

A. It means that the old Adam in us should be drowned by daily sorrow and repentance, and die with all sins and evil lusts, and, in turn, a new person daily come forth and rise from death again. He will live forever before God in righteousness and purity.

Q. Where is this written?

A. St. Paul says to the Romans in chapter six: "We are buried with Christ through Baptism into death, so that, in the same way Christ is risen from the dead by the glory of the Father, thus also must we walk in a new life."

Is not this gospel of "baptism for salvation" another gospel? (cf. Gal. 1:6-9). Numbers III. & IV. above also touch on the "sacramentalism" aspect of baptism, again, much like the Roman Catholic sacraments. (See endnote detailing Luther's teachings on baptism from his Bible commentaries.)

3. Luther & Consubstantiation/Sacramentalism -- [Consubstantiation : the actual substantial presence and combination of the body and blood of Christ with the eucharistic bread and wine according to a teaching associated with Martin Luther (Merriam-Webster's Dictionary ).] [Sacramentalism : belief in or use of sacramental rites, acts, or objects; specif.: belief that the sacraments are inherently efficacious and necessary for salvation (Merriam-Webster's Dictionary)

The Sacrament of the Altar: The Simple Way a Father Should Present it to his Household.

I. Q. What is the Sacrament of the Altar?

A. It is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ under bread and wine for us Christians to eat and to drink, established by Christ Himself. (Emphasis added.)

III.Q. What good does this eating and drinking do?

A. These words tell us: "Given for you" and "Shed for you to forgive sins." Namely, that the forgiveness of sins, life and salvation are given to us through these words in the sacrament. Because, where sins are forgiven, there is life and salvation as well. (Emphasis added.)

IV.Q. How can physical eating and drinking do such great things?

A. Of course, eating and drinking do not do these things. These words, written here, do them: "given for you" and "shed for you to forgive sins." These words, along with physical eating and drinking are the important part of the sacrament. Anyone who believes these words has what they say and what they record, namely, the forgiveness of sins. (Emphasis added.)

Though not covered in his Catechisms, Luther was also a devotee to the Mary of Roman Catholicism. In his own words:

"… she is full of grace, proclaimed to be entirely without sin . … God’s grace fills her with everything good and makes her devoid of all evil . … God is with her, meaning that all she did or left undone is divine and the action of God in her. Moreover, God guarded and protected her from all that might be hurtful to her" (Luther’s Works, American edition, Vol. 43, p. 40, ed. H. Lehmann, Fortress, 1968). (Emphasis added.)

"…. she is rightly called not only the mother of the man, but also the Mother of God. … it is certain that Mary is the Mother of the real and true God" ("Sermon on John 14:16": Luther’s Works [St. Louis], ed. Jaroslav Pelican, Concordia. Vol. 24. P. 107).

"Christ our Savior was the real and natural fruit of Mary’s virginal womb. … This was without the cooperation of a man, and she remained a virgin after that " ("On the Gospel of St. John": Luther’s Works, Vol. 22. P. 23, ed. Jaroslav Pelican, Concordia, 1957).

"Men have crowded all her glory into a single phrase: The Mother of God. No one can say anything greater of her, though he had as many tongues as there are leaves on the trees" (From the Commentary on the Magnificat).

Enough!

Now, these are just samples of the error of these dead "Heroes" that are quoted so frequently from those we admire because of their popularity and size of ministry, so-called, and we believe that if these "Heroes" quote from these sources then certainly these quotations are from people we can depend upon—right? WRONG!

Go to the library, get the materials, trace the quotations and page numbers and see for yourself! Use the brain that God gave you and stop being led into some blind trust in these "Heroes". Trust the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength!

In closing, I have some questions and want to make some observations.

Now ask yourself these simple questions, my beloved: If your people were to believe the teachings of these few people I quoted from today, would it not undermine the very teachings of Christ and the gospel and the scriptures themselves?

Would you be responsible for undermining the very faith of the people you are teaching as well as your own?

Now I am willing to believe that there are some well meaning, but foolish people, who are more angry that I brought these things out into the open rather than being angry about the false doctrine that was being taught by these people!!

More than likely, they are more angry because I exposed that their "Heroes" are not the infallible leaders we THINK that they are and that they are as much a pile of flesh as you and I.

Don’t allow your pride and willing ignorance keep you from being delivered from this madness!

As I concluded in Part 1, it is fitting for Part 2 as well,

The horrors of hero worship cannot be overlooked by a wise church, pastor, preacher or saint. The effects are not only damaging to the saints but for the very cause of the gospel itself.

Lord, willing, we will delve more into this subject next time.
Dr. Harley Howard - Your Servant.