Did you know Tom Cruise used to be my neighbor? Hearing that I had retired to Clearwater Florida to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ it became clear that he should sell his California Mansion and move to Clearwater to be close to me. Well there’s a little bit of fiction thrown in with some facts so to be more accurate, yes, I retired and moved to Clearwater to preach. And yes, not long afterwards a local newspaper featured a story that Cruise may sell his home in CA to move to Clearwater. But the rest of that is pure fiction.

Tom’s possible move to the area was deemed headline worthy, but neither Tom nor the newspaper ever heard about me. Don’t feel sorry for me though, because I certainly didn’t. Leaving the corporate rat race to share the gospel with the people of Pinellas County had me as giddy as a school boy. Plus the fact that Tom was considering moving to the area meant nothing to me. I don’t know if he ever did or not and couldn’t care less, except he’s a great illustration of the problem of celebrity worship.

But celebrity worship isn’t news. It’s as old as the Bible and goes back almost 3000 years to the time of Jeroboam. When the young prophet declared God’s judgment on Israel and the house of Jeroboam for idolatry, and confirmed it with a miracle, Jeroboam wanted to spend time with him (1 Kings 13:8). The prophet was a celebrity to Jeroboam. But the young man had been instructed by God to immediately return home, so he refused and headed home (1 Kings 13:9-10).

So far so good, but here’s where the story took a strange turn. An older prophet got bit by the same celebrity bug as Jeroboam. In order to scratch that bite he chased the young man down and talked him into coming back to his house in Bethel. But to convince the young man it was okay to disobey God’s will, the old prophet lied by claiming to have received a word from God through an angel (1 Kings 13:11-19). He was consumed by the celebrity bug and it cost the young prophet his life.

Just two lessons for us before we finish. First – don’t turn admiration and support of preachers into celebrity worship. It isn’t good for them or us. Many a good preacher has fallen away because of the heady rush of excessive admiration by brethren. And many brethren have fallen away by worshiping a preacher instead of Christ. If we know God why get excited about any mere human? Second, don’t listen to people claiming to have “a word from God” that contradicts what God has already told us. God does not give a message to me or you that contradicts what Paul wrote to all of us! Every such claim is a lie that should be ignored or even denounced (depending on the circumstances). God is not a God of confusion or deceit.