"I like or dislike ________________ (insert famous Christian authors name)!"

Holy fire from the gates of Hell!  Seriously, there have been lots of comments and discussions regarding certain Christian authors, their belief's, and where they stand on things in the last few weeks.  If you don't know what I'm talking about, feel free to Google search "Rob Bell" or "John Piper".

I'm not really here to discuss specifically the reactions or my thoughts to this conversation.  Although I am somewhat guilty of asking some of those questions on my Facebook page, I'm here to talk more about where we are as believers in Christ.

¹ Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ. ² I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready. ³ You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans? ⁴ For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere human beings?
 ⁵ What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. ⁶ I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. ⁷ So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. ⁸ The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.
1 Corinthians 3:1-8

So the Apostle Paul is speaking to the church in Corinth and if you don't know anything about this church, you should know that they were doing some pretty dirty things.  When I read this passage this is what I glean from it compared to the last few days. Some say "I follow Rob Bell!" Others say, "I follow John Piper!"  Some even say "I follow _____________ (insert your favorite Christian authors name here)!" 

The church in Corinth was participating in hero worship.  It's kinda like when you go to a church and everyone is all about the pastor, but very few are about Jesus.  Hey, and I'm not knocking pastors because I am one.  But when did all become about the men and women leading and not about Jesus?  There's absolutely nothing wrong with reading an inspiring book.  Especially when you feel that it's helping you grow deeper in your relationship with Christ.  The problem is when you turn to those books/authors and worship them as your hero's.  As Paul says, they are only servants. 

Think about it his way...take out a piece of paper and follow the outline below:

1.  Write down the name of the person that led you to Christ.
2.  Write down the name of the person/people that discipled you in your first years as a Christian.
3.  Write down the name of your favorite pastor, author, or someone you look up to in your faith.
4.  Write down the name of someone that you are currently following because you aspire your faith to look like theirs.

Here's how mine goes...

1.  My Mom and Dad
2.  My Sunday School teachers, A.B. Colvin
3.  Gary Hollingsworth, Leonard Sweet, Erwin McManus,
4.  My wife

I bet that many of these people disagree doctrinely, but probably agree on one thing...we all need to have a personal relationship with Christ.

So I ask you, who is Rob Bell?  Who is John Piper?  Who is ____________ (insert name)? 

The bigger question is Who is Jesus and why haven't I talked to Him lately?

Chris