Why Mega Pastors are Not Mega Experts
America has an obsession with mega personalities. Tabloid news networks keep us informed of the food these pompous people eat and the thoughts they think. The competition for the public spotlight is fierce in the world. Some mega personalities have discovered it is not even necessary to maintain a positive public image. George Michael, Ru Paul and Miley Cyrus all opted to reinvent themselves to a negative degree. Will Smith can publicly assault another and Alec Baldwin can even kill another without civic consequences.
The problem with big name spotlight personalities is the public perception of expertise. If you have the media’s attention, you must be an expert. Sixteen year olds are now experts in constitutional law because they were seen and heard on tonight’s news as the poster child for some cause. The blind will forever lead the blind into the ditch (Mt 15:14; Mk 6:39).
The church of Jesus Christ is not immune to the epidemic of mega charismatic personalities. Vivacious Matt Chandler, bad boy Mark Driscoll, organizational growth guru Rick Warren are joined by a mega army of mega-wannabes in the church.
The premise is that if so and so can do it, then I can do it, too…by following his prescription, found in his best-selling book. The frenetic nature of American evangelical Christianity is worked, under the guise of “kingdom.” The irony is that the manifestation of the kingdom of God, today, is not mega church, mega ministries, mega movements, by mega personalities…it is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom 14:17).
When mega pastors are promoted and believed to be mega experts, it is simply a Gnostic error. The Gnostic way is to cause others to believe you have some special knowledge, only made available at the next $500.00-per-entrant mega conference. The illusion of expertise is found in the specialization of Christian ministry, which is a reflection and reproduction of the specialized labor in complex economies. Mega churches are complex corporations, with innumerable divisions, producing varied products and services. These church corporations demand capable leaders, who can play Jesus CEO.
The Bible does not teach any of this, which is why there is a paradox exposed by the church “analysts.” The bigger the mega churches become in the USA, the smaller Christian numbers become in the country. Like Wal-Mart swallowing up every retail establishment in every town, mega churches devour small churches, absorbing productive members and transforming them into church consumers, who buy everything the creative church economy can conjure up to keep their customers happy. The calendar is filled with entertainment options, and the church store is filled with goodies of every kind for purchase.
Chief in this perverse enterprise is the high profile media magnet minister. Using every medium to magnify his ministry magnificence, replete with token references to Jesus, the mega pastor postures as a potentate pontiff. With expanded influence, as his or her leadership objective, these mega charlatans produce cotton candy, as the steady diet of spiritual food, fed to the masses of followers in their self-proclaimed movements.
In contrast, imagine a man of God in his study or library at home. He restrains himself from worldly temptations of self-promotion, or even self-preservation. This greatly hinders his exposure to the media and masses. The goats invariably grow discontent with him because big things are not happening at church. A few people find him on Sunday morning in some obscure little building. They marvel that this old-style pastor/preacher even still exists. He spends the better part of an hour reading, correlating, and explaining Bible verses without fabricated emotion.
He explains where others err in their interpretations and why they do so. Here is the expert, the man of God — a man mighty in the Scriptures, not bigger than life on the jumbotron. He is an expert because of how he spends his time and the ultimate focus of his ministry…Christ in you, the hope of glory.
David Norczyk
Spokane Valley, Washington
March 30, 2022
