Stephanie Martin of Church Leaders writes that Southern Baptist turned Anglican evangelist Beth Moore warned against what she called “platform culture” and “Christian celebrity culture” in religion today.
Moore encouraged a younger audience to focus on spirituality and persevere during difficult times. Despite her fame as an author, Moore also reminded the audience that the spotlight is not the most important aspect of Christianity. Even for well-known speakers, most work happens beyond the public eye.
Martin continues:
Beth Moore focuses on a phrase from Paul’s letter to the Philippians: “and this is from God” (1:28). God appoints or allows “difficulties and disappointments and opposition” as a gift, albeit often unwanted, she says. That’s because God wants his followers “to be filled with his Spirit, not with ourselves. … his objective with us is not to make us successful but to make us reliant.”
To younger generations of authors and ministers, Moore writes, “If some of us made it look easy, forgive us. It never was. We had struggles at home, struggles abroad. We have failed as often as we could have succeeded.” She warns, “There will always be criticism. There will always be offerings we make that will be rejected.”
Moore encourages Christian saints and servants to “hang in there” and “ride it out” because “God is for you.” Disappointments may take years to reveal their purpose, she reminds readers, but “Every single one of our stories, if we are in Jesus, ends magnificently. And this is from God.”
During a recent address at a Living Proof Ministries event, Moore warned Christian leaders about the dangers of being in the “earthly spotlight.” The “potential for darkness…is through the roof,” she says, begging listeners not to “crave” worldly fame or attention. “There is so much of this that is not fun,” including the lobbing of “all manner of criticism.” But if you want God to use you, Moore says, you can’t play it safe or avoid exposure to risk and testing. Instead, God “will entrust suffering to us because it is his job to keep us in need of him.”
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