Now I qualify that with the word
"may". It is not a sure thing. It is more an unsure thing because
people do change. Some people are rarefied by challenges. Others are terrified
by it. The truth is, you will never really know it until you are thrown into
the situation. But let's do a mental exercise here. Let's put imagination to
work. I wonder what happens if I am a
charismatic preacher? What challenges
will I face? In fact,
what challenges does a charismatic preacher in general
face?
Personally I trust a
charismatic preacher will conduct himself above board. In any event, he is
where he is because he has proven himself over the years. His industry has paid
off. That much can be safely presumed. I can trust that he will resist a bribe.
He will refuse a questionable proposal. He will watch his tongue most of the
time. He will also reject favoritism, discrimination and overt nepotism (leaving covert nepotism aside). I will
also expect the charismatic preacher to be able to control his carnal
appetites, to refuse an indecent proposal, to turn away from worldly
affiliation, and to resist a gamble that ordinarily seems too good to resist.
Now, it seems like I
am describing an almost perfect person and I know that's quite delusional. Let
me balance it up then. If the Catholic priests convicted of sexual misconduct
is any indication, I guess what is uncommon to pious men can
sometimes be rather common when they are given enough opportunity, indulgence
and adulation to feel infallible or indispensable.
So, my praise for
them may be on the effusive side but I guess the majority of them will struggle
successfully to meet the collective expectation. Still, my point is a
nuanced one about these charismatic preachers and why I may fail as one. There
is just something that goes far deeper than the sins of the carnal flesh
as listed
above.
I believe that even
the sin of the carnal flesh pays homage to this core sin. And it is the sin of
the ego. This is what I truly fear. And this is where I find it most uncanny or
strange. Here's why. If we take Lucifer’s fall as a timeless lesson for all, the
strange bit is that we often overestimate our own ability to overcome pride and
underestimate Lucifer’s. Although seldom openly admitted, we think we are
special, chosen and different. As such, we tend to measure ourselves with a
centimeter
ruler and interpret the results in miles. And therein lies the problem.
Lucifer fell because
of pride and he was needless to say the apple of the Father's eye. Alas, being
highly favored was not enough for the most talented creation before man.
Lucifer didn't just want to be the object of God's love. He wanted to be God; full stop. He wanted to be worshipped.
And here is a wry quote that comes to mind, "If you worship me, you will find that I am actually a very nice guy."
This is the implied danger
faced by many charismatic preachers. Like it or not,
the adoration of charismatic preachers by the masses somehow do cross the line
from respect and reverence to idolization and even worship, albeit demonstrated
most indirectly; most times even unknowingly. And the effect on the charismatic preacher can be unnervingly delusional and even self-realizing.
Now let's go back to
my chances of being a successful charismatic preacher. Pride is a slippery
slope for me and it is the main reason why I may not make the cut. What makes
pride even more insidious is its close cousin called humility. Here's another
quote that comes to mind, "Most of
what they call humility is successfully disguised arrogance." (Nassim
Nicholas Taleb “The Bed of Procrustes”).
Many would think that
the opposite of pride is humility. Well, this is not always the case. In fact,
most times, the private self-ingratiation of pride needs to be buttressed by some
public form of self-effacement. You can call it a hired public relation officer
or a spin doctor of humility. Of course, I am employing a semantic twist to
humility here. My point is that
charismatic preachers will be adored. That's a fact. That's a fact even if the
preacher himself (with the best of
intention) constantly reminds his people to redirect their adoration to the
right person. They will also be showered with praises. They will
be treated
like the "Vicar of Christ"
so to speak.
Let me go out on a limb here to prove my point with this
scripture. If no man comes to the Father except through the son, then for a
charismatic preacher, there is a hidden risk that his enraptured congregation
may take that scripture to its next logical conclusion, that is, "no man comes to the son except through my
pastor."
This is where the resolve
to resist the onslaught of pride gradually wears down and become compromised by
a deluded sense of self-believability. This is also where projected humility
becomes disingenuous over time as the preacher’s popularity rise by default of
congregational strength.
As a result, these
popular preachers will have to struggle through with this larger-than-life
image forced upon them and it is not going to be easy. I therefore empathize
with them. In
fact I empathize with myself more. I believe there is no immunity
for pride unless one is immune from being a human being.
In the end, I think
that all such personalities, who are constantly being placed quite
involuntarily under the spotlight, should be reminded that when the blinding
light shines directly at them, they cannot possibly see where they are going.
It clouds their way and they sometimes have to muddle through. This leaves the
pitfalls, potholes and road bumps in the open and
increases the risk of
missteps and mistakes.
I guess pride has an
insidious way of anesthetizing us into a lull of invulnerability. It conflates
our sense of self importance and gives us this "I-just-know-I-am-right" mindset. This mindset is stubbornly
resistant to changes even when such changes are long overdue. Before long, the victim
is entombed in his own self-fortifying sanctuary, which is watered and fed weekly by
the wholehearted endorsement of the majority of his congregation.
So,
for all those
reasons, the yoke of the charismatic preacher is indeed heavy. And a yoke I
would be unduly burdened with. If we cast it on the back of Christ, we will
overcome eventually. But if we want it all for ourselves - the glory, the fame,
the adulation, the perpetuity in succession, the iron-fisted control, the self-conjured charisma, the self-deluded invulnerability, the holier-than-thou-or-righter-than-you mentality (not openly embracing them but progressively and largely
unknowingly), then we are ineluctably following in the angel of light's
footstep (2 Corinthians 11:14). That
is, the one who once thought that he was better than his Creator and considered
a replacement as long overdue. Cheerz.
* Image from a page by Brandon Wallace.
