Akin says God’s work is done in weakness, not stardom
Posted by jhallsebts on February 8, 2008
“Christian rock star syndrome” is a serious sickness infiltrating the church and gutting the body of Christ, Daniel Akin said.
Akin, president of Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, delivered the school’s convocation address January 29 in Binkley Chapel. In his opening message, he noted the Apostle Paul’s example from 2 Corinthians 12 of not boasting in one’s own “superstardom” but rather learning from the weakness of “thorns in the flesh.”
Akin said this “Christian rock star syndrome” – a cult of personality in which individual leaders parade themselves rather than Christ — is running rampant among all different types of denominations and beliefs, however, each “strain” is characterized by a lack of concern for the sheep of the flock.
“They cared nothing for the sheep. They know nothing of honesty, next to nothing about humility, integrity and sincerity.”
This ideology is further accompanied by a type of Christian humanism, Akin said. He said people are giving more credit to their own human experiences than to truth found in Scriptures. He said these “Christian rock stars” use their platform, not to build up the body of Christ, but to gut it. In the same way, Akin compared the “super apostles” Paul spoke of in 2 Corinthians to those in modern times who elevate themselves because of their experiences.
Akin illustrated that people do not show God’s perfect work by acting as Christian elitists, but God’s glory is seen in the perfect power he exhibits in human weakness. Paul said his weakness is a “thorn in the flesh.”
“Paul is clearly being sarcastic and using irony (in this passage),” Akin said. He said Paul was being sarcastic in showing how the “super apostles” were boasting, meaninglessly, in things that had no spiritual meaning.
“They were boasting,” Akin continued. “They were boasting about who they were, where they had been, what they had done and who they knew. They gloried more in themselves than they did in their Savior. Paul counters these ‘pseudo-apostles,’ these pseudo-spiritual elites, with one telling blow.”
He said Paul showed the foolishness of their boasting by pointing out that God does his most perfect work, not through the “mountaintop experiences,” but rather through pain and thorns in the flesh.
“God does his greatest work, not by putting us on a throne, but by giving us a thorn,” Akin said, in reference to verse seven of the chapter, which says, “To keep me from becoming conceited because of these surpassingly great revelations, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.”
Akin said boasting about personal experience is foolishness, because it has no benefit for the church and does not show spiritual maturity.
Instead, Akin said, recognizing personal difficulty guides us to the wisdom of dependency. It is during these times, when Satan is attacking the Christian, that those who follow Christ can choose to learn something from their “thorns” and “Satan becomes God’s messenger boy.”
Akin said it is during those times of difficulty that it is imperative to seek God in prayer and submit to God’s plan, because he has promised his grace would be sufficient.
“When we are laid out and can only look up to him, that is when we see him do his most perfect work,” Akin said. Recognizing this “supernatural sufficiency” then drives us to humility, he added.
“I will thank you, Lord Jesus, for the difficulties that come,” Akin said. “When I am weak, he is made strong.”
Akin closed by speaking of L. Russ Bush, III, former Dean of the Faculty at Southeastern, who passed away on January 22, 2008 after a two-year battle with cancer. Akin said when Bush was told he had an aggressive form of cancer, he recognized it as a thorn, and determined to learn something from it.
“He said, ‘The cancer did not catch God by surprise. I need to find out what he wants to teach me,’” Akin said, quoting Bush. “In this husband and wife, this giant of the faith, we see an understanding that that is when God does his most perfect work.”
During convocation, Southeastern officially recognized the addition of Gary Bredfeldt, Professor of Leadership, Education and Discipleship, to the faculty. In a ceremony he signed the Abstract of Principles and the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, signaling his intention to teach “in accordance with and not contrary to” the principles contained in those documents.
