Whitney Houston died yesterday, aged forty-eight. It was a tragic death, after such a charmed life. The obituaries in print and online observe that she was a victim of her own success, of the cult of personality. They chronicle the reign of the diva in the '80s and '90s, and the addiction to crack cocaine and alcohol that destroyed her.
Right now, I'm watching the news: live footage of stars walking the red carpet at the Grammys. Though an official pall has been cast over the celebrations, the stars still can't help posturing in front of the cameras. After all, it's who they are, it's what they do. More than that, it's who our culture has made them. It's the cult of personality. As one mourner just stated on TV, "She was our American idol before there was American idol."
There's something deep within us that gravitates towards idolizing people, towards hero worship. This is true inside the church, as well as outside the church.
I'm halfway through a superb biography of Bonhoeffer. The following sentence in my reading today jumped out in light of Whitney’s death: "He never wanted his classes or the seminary to become a cult of personality, centered on him" (p 265).
The country was drunk on nationalism and the messianic persona of the new Fuhrer, a word which literally means 'Leader.' Bonhoeffer saw the ease with which fuhrer worship outside the church so quickly seeped into the church. The 'German Christians,' as the state church was known, embraced many of the values of the Nazis--largely out of nationalistic fervor and loyalty to Hitler. Bonhoeffer recognized this damnable human inclination and sought to guard against it in the breakaway church movement which became known as the 'Confessing Church.' The last thing that would be tolerated in this new collection of protesting pastors was the unhealthy elevation of any individual, especially him.
Like Paul, he recognized the fleshly tendencies that can be so divisive in the church:
I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought. My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. What I mean is this: One of you says, ‘I follow Paul’: another, ‘I follow Apollos’; another, ‘I follow Cephas’; still another, ‘I follow Christ.’ (1 Corinthians 1:10-12)
Bonhoeffer knew that each one of us must guard our hearts in what we both give and receive since, in the words of John the Baptist, there is only one who deserves adulation. He is the Leader par excellence. The Christ. The One and Only, our Savior.
And so, with John, we affirm this essential truth:
“He must increase, but I must decrease” (John 3:30).
