The recent death of Michael Jackson has once again focused attention on the celebrity worship that is rampant in America and indeed, the world. We are a culture that is infatuated with fame and the cult of celebrity has become a virtual religion whose congregants really worship themselves by giving their praise and adoration to the rich and famous that they wish to copy.
Years ago Andy Warhol famously prophesied that “…in the future everyone will be world famous for fifteen minutes.” It seems that there is no price that people will not pay, no humiliation that they will not endure in order to achieve their fifteen minutes. The sin of idolatry is at the heart of this cult. Idolatry occurs when men and women love something else more than they love God (Mark 12:30-31; Revelation 2:4-5) when they serve something other than Him (1 Thess 1:9); when He is not the object of their praise (Deut 6:14).
Paul makes it clear in the Book of Romans, chapter 1 that when men and women will not worship God they naturally worship something else (Romans 1:25). When the worship of God is absent men substitute the worship of something or someone He has created. But the sad truth is that none of these counterfeits will ever fill the emptiness of the human soul that was made for God and can only find true satisfaction when people worship Him in spirit and in truth.
